


Stained Memories

by Adelove



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Betrayal, Blood and Injury, Bullying, Character Death, Everyone Needs A Hug, Expect for Alice, Explicit Language, F/M, Family Feels, Female Protagonist, Headaches & Migraines, How Do I Tag, I love all of the characters, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Loneliness, Mental Health Issues, Past Abuse, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-01 00:30:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 33,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12693339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adelove/pseuds/Adelove
Summary: It was not long after the funeral of your father, when you received a letter adressed to your him. You decided to accept an invitation to the old studio, hoping that coming back will help you deal with your loss and bring back some happy memories from you childhood. You couldn't know that it might be last trip in your life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, here is my first ever published fic. It started as a way to improve my English, which is not my first lanugage (hey, it actually helps, don't judge XD), but then evolved into a longer story and I decided to post it here. As you can already see I changed the protagonist, I usually find it easier to create my OC or make reader the main character. There will be also major changes to the plot, although at the beginning they are not that big. I set myself a minimum of one chapter per week, but you can expect to get them more often, it all depends on my free time.

You were sitting on a kitchen stool, your legs too short to reach the floor. It was late, your favorite cartoon has ended long time ago and you should be sleeping for a few hours now. Still, you were waiting, as usually. He promised to give you a good night kiss and you were not gonna let him broke his word. Even though your eyelids were getting heavier with every minute, your stubbornness was keeping you awake. Everyone in your family thought that you get it after your mother. She was such a wonderful and powerful woman... It was yet to be seen if you got any other traits, but already you looked a lot like her. Your hair exactly the same color as yours mother, now reaching to your shoulders, was set free from your usual braids. Your father taught himself how to do them for you. You would need a few more years to appreciate this. Actually, there were many things, which would over time become important and then seemed like something normal. The lock clicked and door started to open. You sleepiness disappeared momentary, with a cry you jumped from the stool nearly knocking it over. Your rapid steps sounded in the hall and in a minute you were already in his embrace. He smelled like ozone, ink and paper. He smelled like love, happy time and safety.  
  
“We are here.” Voice of the taxi driver brought you back to reality. Gone was the warmth, you was once again sitting in a back seat of stinking yellow car. Some trashy music was coming from a cheap radio in the front, though the quality was so bad, that you couldn’t even tell the song. The air smelled like cigarettes, you really hated this smell. Thank God, it looked like you survived whole ride without throwing up. “That will be 15,70.”  
  
You unclasped your purse and looked for money. You thought it will be cheaper, but you already learned, that nothing in your life worked out like you wish it would. After a moment you finally collected needed amount of cash and gave it to driver. With a muttered “thanks” you opened the door and finally get out of that stuffy space. Fresh air felt like a true blessing for your lungs and for a moment you just let yourself breathe in and out, enjoying how good it was. After that you focused on the building in front of you.  
  
You didn’t know what you expected. For sure you didn’t think it will be some kind of glassy skyscraper, like the one you worked during internship. Actually, the building itself looked quite like you think it would – small, short and located in the cheaper neighborhood. The thing that you didn’t anticipate was the fact that it was a ruin. Most of the windows were either covered with desks or empty, looking like empty eye sockets. The walls were dirty, but somehow not covered in graffiti. The roof didn’t yet collapse, but it didn’t look stable either. Was that really the place? Maybe the taxi driver tricked you and left God know where. You tried looking around; after all, you have been a few times before. Unfortunately time wasn’t more merciful for the rest of buildings in the area; it didn’t at all looked like a dreamful setting from you memories.  
  
With a heavy sigh you decided to at least try getting closer and taking a better look. Letters over the entry didn’t leave any doubts – it was indeed Joey Drew Studios. You felt a little sting in your heart. It was really the right place, even though it looked so bad. Now you regretted that you didn’t do more survey on the company and the building itself. Now you were standing here, already without half of your today’s budget. Well, you could sit down and start crying or try coming inside. Already feeling the tears coming to your eyes you decided that you couldn’t just give up. Coming here was a big decision and you were gonna at least take a look inside. With that you clenched your fists and pushed the door, which moved with a loud creak.  
  
Once again you were surprised by the building and its state. Instead of dusty and dark room you were once in a bright hallway. Of course, it was a bit dusty and looked like not many people used it nowadays, but hey, at least, you didn’t have to use your phone as a flashlight. Maybe the invitation was still actual and someone was waiting for you? That was a reassuring thought, even though your inside pessimist shaked his head with disapproval.  
  
“Hello?” Well, that didn’t sound as sure and loud as you wanted. Instead it was just a silent whispered of a scared girl. Come one, you can do better. You cleared your throat and tried again. “Is anyone in here?” Yeah, that still didn’t’ sound good, but it will have to do. Of course a little funny thought appeared in your head, about how you behaved like a stereotypical character in horror. Coming into ruined building after receiving a mysterious invitation and the even asking these questions… Really cliché. You raised your hand and massaged your temple, trying to get that out of your head. It was real world, not some cheap horror. You would just look around, make sure that there was no one awaiting you and the get the fuck out of here. Sounded like a plan.  
  
Your eyes moved to the posters on the walls. Of course, they presented different Bendy’s adventures. There were a few with him, but also one with Alice Angel and Boris. It was so long since you’ve last seen any materials connected with those cartoons, outside of your own room of course. Yeah, even if that was childish, you still had your plushie, drawing and all that stuff. You were such a big fun once; obsessing over your favorite little devil and making you dad draw him nearly every day. One of those drawing was now depicted on your skin, you hand instinctively moved to your ribs. It just felt right to get this tattoo, even though your dad would probably freak our, just like most parents. You liked to imagine that scene – your father worried, you mother reassuring him and giving you a thumb up. Yeah, she would totally approve, you heard she was as crazy as you. Still, she probably wouldn’t be happy seeing you crawling through this place, even if it was old animation studio.  
  
You sighed and moved on. A few steps forward and you were now inside of a quit big room, with a projector running and a big cut out of Bendy himself. Someone must have been here recently, otherwise the projector wouldn’t be active. Still maybe it would be better to turn it off, power saving and all. After a moment of hesitance you clicked the switch and the room grew quiet. You were a little bit disappointed that no one appeared and scolded you for touching things. And that was when your inner pessimist spoke up – what if you’ve just broken it? As much as its sounded like bullshit you panicked a little and pushed the switch again. Luckily, the projector turned on and you could sigh with relief. Now you could again turned it off and without remorse carry on your visit. Before that you leaned toward Bendy cutout and winked at him with a small smile. “Nothing happened, right buddy?”  
  
You decided to go on and explore the workshop a little more. You were slowly starting to feel a little more confident and decided that your 15,70 can’t just go to waste. Least you could do is to try and find the reason why you, or rather your father, got that letter now, after all those years. Turning your back on the smiling cutout you couldn’t see the ink dropping at it face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who wrote wrote more chapters during weekend? Yes, it was me. If I will keep writting so fast, you can expect 2 or even 3 chapters per week, yay! Plus I was actually super happy to see kudos after I published this work, so it gave me a lot of motivation and inspiration to continue, thanks everyone, it means a lot <3 I will update tags as the story goes on, but I already aded a few things, that will be mentioned for sure

The other rooms looked as deserted as the first one. No sign of human activity anywhere, just empty halls and unused rooms. And, honestly, everything looked pretty normal. At least until you reached the Ink Machine. At least that was written over the entrance to the room and you were just gonna assume that it was the name of the strange construction. You’ve never seen something like that in your entire life. Even upon closer inspection the reason for installing it here remained a mystery to you. Maybe that was the reason why Joey Drew write the letter, after all he wanted to show something, right? After some time you noticed a pipe coming from the machine and disappearing into the walls. You left the room, determinated to check whether it appeared again somewhere else. You were right – pipes filled with something, that looked like black ink, where situated on nearly every wall. How could you not notice it earlier?  
  
And when we are talking about noticing things, you were so focused on you discovery that you didn’t see a cutout of Bendy in the middle of the crossroad. Only when you bumped into it with an embarrassing squek you realized it was there. “I’m sorry, I…” you instinctively started blabbering before remembering, that it was not alive and probably didn’t really care about your rudeness. You sighted and was about to go back to exploration of the studio when something made you stop in your tracks. You didn’t anticipate this cutout to be because, it wasn’t here earlier. You’ve seen Bendy in other places, yes, but not here, in the middle of a hall. The more you thought about it, the more creeps it gave you. There were only two possibilities – either you were so distracted that you didn’t see it before and it was here, or you weren’t alone in the studio and someone moved it. You weren’t sure which option you preferred to be true, so you decided to occupy your mind with something else. Yeah, back to exploring the studio then. You managed to make just a few steps before a board felt from the sealing, scaring the shit out of you.  
  
“FUCK!” with a scream you jumped back, bumping into poor Bendy and knocking it over. You raised your hand to your chest and toke a few shaky breaths, one day your heart would probably kill you. When you were sure, that the crisis was behind, you turned to pick up poor cutout. “Sorry buddy, it looked like it’s not…” You stopped talking when you realized that there was no one who could hear you apology. Bendy was gone. Okay, until now you were just a little uncomfortable. Now you were simply scared. Time to think about your next move. There was this small voice, probably your self-preservation instinct, who wanted you to get the fuck out of this place and never return. It was probably the wisest choice that you could make, taking under consideration what happened to you since you entered the studio. Then there was louder and more persistent voice, who urged you to continue your investigation. You were an adult, you paid your own taxes and knew how to cook an edible dinner – a few creepy events shouldn’t make you run like a scared girl. There must be a logical reason behind everything that happened, you just couldn’t see it now.  
  
You took a deep breath and went back to searching for anything interesting in the building. There were a few closed doors and a few completely empty rooms, with covered in dust desks. In some places you still noticed sketches of Bendy, surprisingly no one took it with them. They will probably be worth quit nice amount of money in a few years. Still you left them where they were, taking them it felt like stealing from the cemetery. Just when you started losing hope you noticed a tape recorder. Now that was something new, so without hesitation you pushed the play button. It took you a moment to realize who was speaking, but when you connected the voice with a person a smile formed on your face. Thanks God for your good memory or you wouldn’t recognize Wally Franks and his wonderful accent. He talked about a few things, all of them important to you. First, there was the bad condition of studio, which from your perspective wasn’t really surprising. You wondered briefly how old the recording was, but didn’t have time to think about that, cause Wally continued his monologue. Was it possible that machine he mentioned was the same you seen in the “Ink Machine” room. Well, it made sense, unlike most of things happening in this place. Then he talked about something that you’ve never heard about. It looked like Joey Drew demanded something, sort of trinket, from each of his employees and put these thing on pedestals on the break room. You were there already, but the pedestals were empty. The recording ended with Mister Franks rail about pipes breaking, which caused the smile on your face to widen and even make you smirk a little. Yeah, it was certainly the same man, who ran after you, when you stole and hidden his tools.  
God, it felt like an eternity, now that you were standing in this ruined workshop. So many thing changed over the time you last been in the Joey Drew Studio, many more people were then alive… You shook your head, trying to get rid of that thought. You shouldn’t think like that, it didn’t help and your therapist certainly would not be happy. He would give you that sad puppy’s look and ask what make you have such negative feelings. “Well, Mister Clever” you started muttering to yourself, as you turned from recorder and strode down the hall “Right now it’s the fact that I’m alone in a ruined building full of merchandise of my favorite cartoon character. Doesn’t sound bad, right?” You passed by a pool of ink, that seemed to move, but you were too focused on your monologue. “Yeah, I thought so too. But now I see appearing and disappearing cutouts, was nearly killed by a falling board and I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind.” You stopped next to a desk and grabbed a book that was sitting on it. “The Illusion of Living by Joey Drew” you read aloud the title. Something told you that you just find one of the six things that needed to be placed on the pedestals. Five more things to go.  
  
Three next proved quit easy to find. You picked a lonely gear from floor next to one of Bendy’s cutout (which received a nasty look for well, being there), found an ink jar in one of empty rooms and took a record. Next thing proved harder to notice and more emotional. You crouched next to a chair, where a small Bendy doll was sitting. You wanted to say something lighthearted to him, but emotions made your throat tight. It was so similar to the one you got from your father. You slept with it for the next few years, believing that no monster would attack you when the literal devil was in bed with you. These were naïve thoughts, you knew it now, but it still made you smile. Or maybe he really protected you from all these monsters under you bed and inside the closet and that was why you never had to encounter them? What a pity that he couldn’t do the same to these hiding in human skin. Maybe there were simply too many for him. You caressed the face of the doll with tenderness. As if in answer to your action, a strange sound came to your ears, from somewhere in the studio. You turned your head momentarily. It didn’t’ sound like anything you’ve ever heard in your entire life and it gave you goosebumps. Without thinking you picked up the doll and decided to quickly find the last item.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter this week, great right? I really want to keep this speed, so unless anything unexpected happens in my life, you can expect next chapters every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments, you are the best <3

You once again went through the rooms, which you already visited. Still there was no sight of the thing that might serve as the last trinket. It was really frustrating, going through the whole damn studio and searching for something that would ring a bell. Over time fear, which overcome you after hearing that strange sound, disappeared and frustration took it place. From all this nervous running around you lost your breath and had to take a sit. Honestly, this was worse than your PE, there you could tell it was “this time of the month” and you would sit through whole lesson. Here, on the other hand, you actually had to move a little. You let yourself slide a little and put your head on a nearby desk. This whole thing was some kind of unfunny joke and you were slowly losing any enthusiasm to solve the mystery of this place. In the past you wouldn’t give up so easily. No, of course not. You would not sleep nor eat until you would find all the secrets behind this whole situation. And then, when you would uncover everything you would run with a big smile to your dad, to tell him everything. He would pat you on your head, smile and tell you how proud he was. Damn, you really missed him. Your eyes became glassy and you angrily stood up. That was not the time for crying and worries about thing that you couldn’t change. You had a task to complete.  
  
There were for sure a few places that you haven’t visited yet. You weren’t really sure how you managed to miss the room you just entered earlier, but the moment you took a step inside you regretted in didn’t stay that way. You felt your stomach doing a flip the moment you laid your eyes on the corpse tied to the operation table. Taking a few steps behind you quickly averted your eyes, raising one hand to your mouth. You didn’t really got a good look, but it was enough to make you feel sick. Thank God your last meal was few hours ago or you would probably decorate the floor with it. You luckily managed to lean the wall before your legs become too weak to carry your weight. Yes, some of the things that happened earlier were a bit creepy, but this… This was simply sick. Whoever though it was a good joke had a really sick sense of humor. You weren’t sure for how long you stood in the hallway before you risked another look into the room. Deep in your heart you hoped that the body would disappear just like cutout you earlier knocked. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Only know, when first shock was gone you realized, that it was not a human body. It looked like…  
  
“Boris? Oh my God…” It looked exactly like him, the same clothes, and the same well… face. But how was it possible that he was here, in real world? You desperately searched for a logical answer to this question, even if he looked so realistic. Was it some kind of 1:1 doll? Another deep breath and you stepped closer to the body. This whole visit seemed more and more delusional. Upon closer inspection an item grabbed you attention. There was a wrench put inside incision on the chest of the body and something told you, that it was the last item on your list. Hesitantly, you raised your hand and moved it in the direction of the object. You really wanted to close your eyes, but you didn’t want to touch the body by accident. The moment your fingers curled around the wrench you withdrew you hand abruptly. There was no blood on your skin, only ink. As strange as it was, you really didn’t want to think about it anymore.  
You headed straight for the break room with gaze fixed straight ahead. You didn’t care if the devil himself decided to take a nap in one of the rooms you passed, you just wanted to put these things where they belonged. You hoped there wasn’t any logical puzzle behind how they should be settled or something like that. You certainly didn’t have enough patience for this bullshit.  
  
You kinda threw each of collected trinkets on pedestals and went for to restore the ink pressure. You expected something sinister to happen after that, but the studio remained quit. It made you a bit more daring and so you went to restore power. With that the whole studio seemed to come back to life. You could ratchets slowly turning and ink being pumped through the pipes. Where if that couldn’t be written as an additional skill in you CV, you didn’t know what else could. You didn’t even try to stop self-satisfaction that spread on your face. It looked like you accomplished your goal. Not sure what else there was to do you decided to inspect the Ink Machine one last time and the perhaps leave the studio. Expect for Bendy cutouts and that strange body, that you really tried to erase from your memory, there was no one awaiting your arrival. You actually flipped you phone and decided to call for a taxi. Of course that would be to easy, the moment you tried to dial a number you noticed the no signal icon. Well, it could wait until you leave the building. At least you battery seemed to be nearly completely full or you would have to go for a very long stroll. You really hate walking from that day, when your class went on a whole day trip with no plan to use any transport. You ended up walking around eight hours in rain, with the closest shelter many kilometers from you. Or maybe you were just a grumpy child, who couldn’t have fun even though your colleges seemed to enjoy that event?  
  
Once again you were so deep in your thought that you nearly missed something in your way. Happily, you seemed to learn from your mistakes. Instead of head bumping into a few boards, that were now blocking entry into the room with Ink Machine, you stopped just before them. Okay, these plank definitely weren’t there, you remembered well visiting this place before and getting a closer look at the device inside. All you hard work and now you didn’t even get a chance to touch that thing, that you just made work again? “Oh come on…” You muttered to yourself, as you attempted one of the objects blocking your way with you hand. In that moment someone or rather something appeared on the other side with a shriek. You weren’t sure who screamed louder, as you emitted the cry in your life and instantly started running. Exit, you needed to get to the exit. Suddenly the studio seemed like a labyrinth, filled with never-ending halls, ink flowing from the ceiling and drumming of your heart. You didn’t even turn your head to check whether that thing was chasing after you. After what felt like an eternity entrance appeared in you sight. You were already stretching your hand to grab the handle, when you felt floor literally disappearing from under your legs.  
  
You never believed people who told, that in the moment of great danger they’ve seen their whole life before their eyes. Know you had a chance to realize how wrong you are. Before your body abruptly met with earth you’ve seen everything. The flashed changed so fast, that you managed to make sense only of a few of them. Celling covered in stars, you parents blurred faces somewhere high above you. Playing outside in the snow, both of them present again. A day in the kindergarten, when that stupid kid bit your ear (his name was Kevin if you remember correctly). The day you got you pup and the day you burrowed him, after a car hit him. Weak grip of your mother hand on yours. The sound of the violin as they put her down her grave. Playing in the rain with you friends and coming home to find no one there. First meeting with the therapist. Getting tattoo. Putting you dad’s pen and sketchbook into the coffin, next to his body. Entering the studio.  
  
All the air was pushed from your lungs the moment you hit the floor. The pain was incredible, you felt as if all of your ribs were pushed inside your chest. Only after few gasps for air you managed to breath normally again. There was still some adrenaline in your system from your earlier race for your life and only thanks to that you slowly stood up. Tears appeared in your eyes, but you didn’t have time and strength to deal with them. You had to get out of here.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, this week was rough. My teachers at university seem to be unaware of our private lifes. I'm also learning French, never thought that it could be that hard and that comes from a person who know Polish, which have a reputation of being difficult. Luckily I write chapters in advance, so no worry, all will be published according to plan, enjoy ;)

Your way seemed to be blocked by a hall filled with… ink? You have never in your life seen such a big amount of it in one place. You carefully crouched and try touching the surface. Yep, definitely ink. You were desperate enough to walk into it, but it wouldn’t really help, since the door seemed to be blocked. It looked like you work as a handyman didn’t finish yet. Before moving towards next room you had to drain it somehow. Luckily all you had to do was turning a few valves, no more collecting useless trinkets.  
  
This time you were lavishly regarded for you efforts – you found an axe! You could nearly hear the sound of acquiring an item, from favorite game. Your brain seemed to continue trying to make you at least less stressed. You already caught yourself thinking what you’re gonna do when you leave this place. For sure you earned a big, steamy cup of hot chocolate. Maybe you just can ignore collage for one day and do yourself a “relax day”. Only you, comfy clothes and a good book. A small part of you wanted to add a sketchbook t that, but the risk that you draw something Bendy related was too big. Eh, only now you remember about tattoo on your ribs. It looked like you won’t be able to look into the mirror either, at least for a few years. Maybe weeks.  
You weighted the axe in your hand and gave a swing. That was the first time you had to use such a tool in your life and something told you, it won’t just chop a few boards today. Whatever attacked you may come back, but this time you might feel a little more confident. Actually, you weren’t sure now that it was aggressive, now that you thought about it. Did it even chase after you? Its sole sudden appearance made you run for your life. You now tried to search you memory for more details. You were pretty sure the hand that was stretched between the boars was gloved. And the body was black. Maybe covered in ink, it seemed that it was plenty of it in the whole building. It was all very confusing and you now kind of regretted that you didn’t get a better look on the face of whatever was in the room with the Ink Machine. You felt like you tried to complete puzzles with half of the elements missing. Hopefully you would have a chance to think about it later. Preferably at home. Once again you started walking in search of an exit.  
  
Your hopes, that all the creepy things stayed on the higher level, were crushed the moment you entered another room. There was a pentagram on the floor. That was too much even for you. You kind slumped against the wall and close your eyes. It must have been some kind of a bad dream. Maybe you ate something stale and you upset stomach decided to ruin your night by giving you the most realistic and absurd nightmare ever. But you didn’t even eat anything special today… Oh wait, these mushrooms. They must be at fault here. Sure, they tasted a bit funny, but you ate worse and lived. Perhaps it’s a revenge for that too. Maybe pinching your skin will work and end this dream? You tried twice, but nothing happened. Any other genius ideas for ending it? Usually you had problems with falling asleep, not the other way around, so you didn’t know much tricks. Today was really not your day, huh?  
That was when you heard it. Steps. Someone was walking in the room next to the one in which you was currently sitting. Was that the same attacker from before? This time you were not gonna let him surprise you, oh no. Now you got an axe and you will certainly put it to good use. You haven’t yet decided if that meant cracking someone’s skull with it, but it remained an option. You slowly stood up and tighten your grip on the handle of your weapon. It was practically self-defense, so you didn’t feel guilty thinking about beating whoever was sneaking in the hall. When you leaned to check the situation around the corner you actually got a look on a figure moving. As quit as you could, you started sneaking in that direction. You waited for a moment, listening in case he came back, but it didn’t seem to be the case. After taking last one deep breath you jumped into the hallway, raising your axe. Your whole body was ready to strike, which didn’t happen. There was no one there and you were now facing blind end. Truth be told you weren’t completely alone – you stood eye to eye with another Bendy cutout. You felt as if the process of losing your mind had sped up rapidly.  
  
You lowered you axe, but haven’t broken eye contact with the devil. Unfortunately you piercing gaze wasn’t enough to make him talk and preferably explain what the fuck was going on. “You won’t point me the way to the exit, right buddy?” you sighed and raised your free hand to your temple. You failed in your attempt to chase away dull pain that was getting worse with every moment, especially after you fall. With your luck it might as well be a concussion.  
Luckily for you there was someone observing your struggle, who decided to relive your suffering. Too focused on fighting the pain and thinking about your hopeless situation you didn’t hear silent steps. Only when you felt a new, much stronger pain in the back of your head you realized that you weren’t alone. You’ve fallen to the ground with a groan full of pain. You vision began to get blurry; you managed to get a look on a dark figure and heard a few words. “Rest your head, it’s time for bed.” Then you lost consciousness.  
  
Sammy Lawrence slowly crouched to get a better look at the newest sheep. She was a truly fitting sacrifice for his Master, young and untainted by ink. She also seemed to possess quit a fighting spirit, her attempt to attack him earlier nearly make him admire her determination. Bendy will for sure be proud of his accomplishment and will free him of this monstrous body. He let his hand linger over her head, barely stopping himself from touching it. He needed to focus, there was no time. He picked up the girl, staining her shirt and jeans with black smudges. It didn’t matter anyway; soon there will be nothing left of her and her clothing. He had to hurry before her wake up; there was no need for unnecessary fight. A few good knots and even her will to fight wouldn’t help her get away. Humming one of his old songs he moved toward the old music department. He choose it as his home almost instinctively, the few old memories that he still had were all connected to that place.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how much I'm happy that Sammy finally appeared in this story. What can I say, I totally fallen for him and Bendy. Anyway, if anyone is curious how long the story will be, I think it will close in around 20k words, maybe a little more. I got a pretty solid vision of the universe and main plot, but certain events change from time to time

Your poor head really had enough for one day. First of all, this whole situation was simply too much for your logical mind and you felt as if your grey cells were dying in agony, trying to solve the mystery of the old Joey Drew studio. Then there was the fall, when the main impact was distributed evenly onto your whole body, included your head. And now every attempt to think was connected with a new wave of pain from the back of your skull. You decided to search your pockets for some painkiller, you were pretty sure you’ve once put a tablet or to for emergencies. And this was definitely an emergency. You tried to move your hand just to notice, that it was tied beside your back. “What in seven hell?” you muttered and made your kidnapper notice your return to the living world.  
You raised your gaze as the man walked closer to you. At least you thought it was a man, honestly he looked as if someone decided to make a sculpture from ink. He was wearing trouser and Bendy’s mask with a hole instead of mouth. Somehow you had a feeling that he was smiling at you. If earlier you thought about this place as a setting horror, now you only get a confirmation.  
  
“Looks like our little sheep is awake again.” Wait, that voice sounded familiar. Maybe a little hoarse, but wasn’t that… Sammy? No, that wasn’t possible. Sure, you remembered that he could be a bit strange sometimes, but this was a whole new level. For now you decided to focus on what he was saying, you could analyze the situation later. You already missed a part, when he said how honored he was to welcome you down here (somehow you were less happy about it) and you started paying attention just when he got to the point. “…the believers must honor their savor. I must have him notice me.”  
  
That sounded to you nearly like a speech from a cultist. Wait. That was when something clicked and you managed to connect at least a few dots. Pentagram, human offering, savor – it all was a prove that there was some kind of cult present here. As if you weren’t already scared by the whole situation… But that was not the time to be frightened, you had to think. You were already on the losing position when it came to physical strength, plus you were tied to a chair. He probably also knew this place better than you and you didn’t know whether he was alone, even if that was what you thought. Then you spotted it – only two meters from you was your axe, casually leaning against the wall. If only you could get to it, you would gain an advantage. You tried to loosen the rope on your wrists, but to no result. Time to think about a plan to get you out of them.  
  
“Sacrifice to you Lord, right?” you interrupted his monologue. You were quit surprise how steady your voice sounded, while inside you were shake like a jelly. “Yes, our Lord, mighty Bendy…” You’ve seen the chance and you decided to grab it, for sure you couldn’t make your situation worse. “Well, it looks like you got the wrong sheep then.”  
  
That statement seemed to shock him a bit. He looked at you for a moment in complete silence and you could nearly hear the cogs turning in his head, as he slowly analyzed what you said. “What do you mean?” he asked at last and doubt in his voice made you more confident.  
  
“You see, I also worship Master Bendy.” You tried to nod your head to add certitude to your words, but pain that flooded you made you stop. Still, you tried not to show how you suffered and instead you continued talking. It was your best chance after all. “I even have his, emm, noble face tattooed. Just tuck my shirt and see for yourself.” God, you hoped he wouldn’t decide it was some kind of sacrilege and stab you. After a moment of hesitation on his side. Sammy slowly reached in you direction and grabbed the edge of your shirt. He seemed to be very cautious in his actions, his slowness didn’t help you to calm down. He did as you instructed him earlier and now was looking at smiling Bendy’s face depicted on your skin. You flinched when something wet touched your skin, his fingers tracing outline of the tattoo. Not wanting to disturb him you tried to remain still and pray, that your trick actually worked.  
  
What you couldn’t see behind the mask on Sammy face, was his astonishment. He felt so taken back by your words, that he needed some time to process them. And the the tattoo itself. It was made from ink, there was no doubt about it, yet somehow you remained uncorrupted. How was that possible? Was you somehow more worthy than him, did the savor favored you? Deep inside he felt jealousy, but he quickly crushed it. No, whatever you did pleased Bendy and he should look up to you, not behave like petty child. Perhaps your appearance was not a coincidence; perhaps you were here to show him the way to salvation.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity to you he eventually spoke. “It looks like I owe you an apology. I was not aware that our Master has more followers.” He moved behind your back and only thanks to that he didn’t get a chance to see surprise showing on your face. You couldn’t believe he actually fallen for that. Maybe, just maybe, things were actually starting to work out. You felt something cold on the skin of your wrist and panicked a bit, but then room was filled with sound of ropes being cut and soon you found yourself completely untied. Overjoyed with your acquitted freedom you stood up rapidly, which proved not to be the best idea. The whole room spun and you felt your knees getting weak. To your surprise a strong head grabbed your arm before you could fall to the floor. “Easy there.” there was concern in his voice, but you couldn’t make yourself to look at him. Even now you could smell the ink on his body and the mask he was wearing didn’t make him look less creepy at all.  
You let him seat you back in the chair. You could still see your axe placed not so far from you, but know using it didn’t seem like such a good idea. The fall and blow, that you earlier received, had bigger impact on your health that you thought. Even walking might prove difficult in your state, so you could forget about actually fighting your way out of here. Beside it looked like you were as safe as it was possible in abandoned studio with a maniac cultist by your side. You nearly didn’t notice Sammy crouching next to your chair.  
  
“You should probably rest for some time.” His voice started you, his face being too close for your comfort. Still, there was no place to run so you just had to endure it somehow. That’s when you recalled what you wanted to do after waking up – it was time to search for some painkillers. Luckily for you it didn’t take you long and soon you were swallowing a small pill, which will hopefully help you at least a bit. After doing so you focused once again on Sammy, who was curiously watching your actions. He seemed remorseful for what he did, so maybe you could actually use that to your advantage? You couldn’t of course ask him about exit; it would shatter your disguise completely. Asking about Bendy himself probably wasn’t a good idea either, as his follower you should probably know a lot. Before you had a chance to think about something else your body decided to give you a hint. There was a loud growl coming from your stomach, which made you instinctively cover it with you hand and blush. Unlike you, who know curled up from embarrassment, Sammy seemed to see you state as a way to redeem himself. “Oh, so you need to eat. Luckily we have a nice stock of soups in can. Just wait here, I’ll bring you one.”  
  
Before you could utter a word of protest he was already on his way to grab something for you to eat. Once again you were left all alone, but know you weren’t sure if it was really such a bad option. There was no use in wasting time, so you decided to try standing up once again. This time there was no rush and you maneuvered much more carefully. Soon, you were standing once again, although you doubted you could do much more than walk slowly. For now it must suffice.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today was a really long day, so I'm just gonna drop the chapter and go to sleep. Hope you like it~

There was no indicate of how much time you exactly had, before Sammy would be back, so you decided to look around a little. Of course the first thing you did before starting you exploration was grabbing your trusty axe. Sure, it didn’t really help you earlier, but you still felt better with a weapon in your hand.  
You were once again lost in the maze of empty rooms and hallways. Yet, this time something was different. Soon you realized that you actually remembered some of the places, even if now they looked like a caricature of your memory. There was a lot of dust, covering shelves and floors, making you leave tracks whenever you moved. Ink was practically everywhere, dropping from the ceilings, staining the walls and creating dark puddles on the floor. You had to walk carefully not to step into one, it was enough that your shirt had dark smudges in places, where Sammy touched it earlier... You honestly had no idea what happened to him, how was it possible that he changed so much. Sure, you haven’t seen him for many years, but it was not a rational reason behind his change. According to your memory he could be a little awkward, but he wasn’t a cultist, that much you were sure. Something went horribly wrong in the studio and it looked like it was up to you, to find out what exactly happened.  
  
You were quite surprised to find another recording of one of the employees. It looked like it was once a tradition to make you diary this way, rather than the traditional paper and ink. Well, you won’t argue with that, at least you had a chance to understand what was going in this place before its closure. This time you recognize the voice the moment you hit play button. It was Suzie Campbell, voice actor of Alice Angel. You remembered her quit well, mostly because she seemed to enjoy your company. Back in the days, you spent a lot of time together whenever you would manage to convince your father to take you to work. She would sometimes call you her muse; inspiration to work especially hard, since you was one of the biggest fan of Bendy’s cartoon. TO be honest though, you didn’t think she needed any additional motivation - she was so dedicated to her work, and it was truly amazing. If you wouldn’t be so set on becoming animator in future, you would probably choose voice acting as your dream career. At least, in your childhood, now you didn’t felt like choosing anything. You weren’t sure where you lost your will to do, well, anything productive. It was probably more of a process, than a single event. Coming here was not easy for you, you really used all of your strength and for what? The recording ended, but you didn’t really care, it didn’t sound like anything useful was being said.  
  
You weren’t really surprised when you reached the recording studio. That was the most logical place for Sammy to choose as his hideout. The room looked untouched – there were two rows of chairs with microphones above them. You could see a piano standing in the corner, a few other instruments were scattered across the room. There was also a projector screen, currently completely empty. It got you curious whether any cartoon was inside the projector in the upper room, so you decided to check it.  
  
Since the studio was so peaceful you relaxed a bit and instantly realized it was a mistake, when a bubbling noise reached your ears from one of the puddles of ink. It made you stop in your tracks, just in time to notice something moving inside, slowly raising and forming into human like shape. You didn’t wait any longer and tried darting towards projection booth. Of course it was a bad idea, the moment you sped up dizziness caught up with you and you nearly collapsed. Luckily, you managed to steady yourself, hitting wall with your shoulder. You lostyour balance and fallen inside the room. A more rational part of your brained screamed at you to close the door behind you, so you slammed them, hopefully leaving whatever emerged from the ink on the other side. You stumbled back, grabbing the counter and nearly pushing the projector off it. Your gaze traveled toward recording studio and couldn’t believe what you saw.  
  
A monster was crawling thought the room, his shape very similar to one of human, but only the upper side was visible. His lower part seemed to be completely fluid; with every movement he left ink traces behind him. You couldn’t see any eyes and mouth was a big, gaping hole in its face. Just like Sammy it seemed to be covered in ink, or rather made from it. You watched as it went through the room that you visited not so long ago, only to disappear into a pool of ink in the corner of recording studio. You turned away from the window and slowly sat on the floor. Was that the reason behind Sammy’s insanity? Honestly, it wasn’t half a bad, you could only imagine what this place could make to a person, when he or she is trapped here for a long time. Appearing and disappearing Bendy’s cutout, ink monsters, pentagrams… And you were here for how long, a few hours? You dropped the axe and covered your face with hands. You could feel your heart racing and your whole body trembled uncontrollably. You tried to breath, but you lungs didn’t cooperate and you were left gasping for air like a fish. In the back of your mind thoughts raced, how stupid it was, how vulnerable you were now. You knew it all and you hated your body for how useless it was in this moment. It had one damned job and it failed at it.  
  
The sound of heavy steps and then doors being opened didn’t exactly help. You were aware of it, but you couldn’t get yourself to move even a millimeter. There was an axe lying next to you, but it seemed such a long distance right now. So you just sat there, waiting for whatever was about to happen. Was that Sammy, who will know realize how much of a fool he was to trust you? Or maybe that creature made of ink, which actually made you run into this room? Instead of any form of pain, for which you were quite ready, you heard a few steps, this time faster and lighter, and then a hand was placed on your shoulder. It felt big and solid, clothed in some kind of glove. You slowly dropped your hands, but didn’t open your eyes instantly. After few deep breaths you raised you eyelids, only to gaze into pie-styled eyes of human size Boris.  
You opened your mouth to say something and the closed them, after no words seemed to come out. You honestly didn’t know what to say, when a character from you childhood cartoon seemed to be alive and standing right in front of you. He didn’t move from the moment you opened your eyes, probably didn’t want to scare you. It took you some time to realize, that you couldn’t just sit there till the end of the world. Once again you tried talking, this time managing to gasp a silent “Boris?”. Not the most impressive of your statements, but it actually got him to move. He nodded vigorously and seemed to give you an equivalence of smile. Well, it was the most successful first meeting since you entered the studio, ao you decided to put your trust in the wolf. Yes, you had so many questions to ask, but for now you should probably leave this room. As if reading your intentions Boris helped you stand up and then offered you the axe.  
  
“Thanks, Boris. Know any safe place where I could catch my breath?” You earned yourself another vigorous nod and your companion waved his hand, wanting you to follow him. It wasn't really like you had any other option, so you just walked after him. It didn't take you long to notice how slow he moved, so that you could keep up. Maybe it was silly, but you felt a little more optimistic thanks to that observation.  
  
Walk toward the safe spot wasn’t long itself, but it made you really tired. After the roller-coaster of emotions that this day was, plus all of the injuries that you suffered, it was not surprise that you had no energy left. Boris seemed to notice, because the longer you walked, the slower he moved. At least you reached the place he had in mind and the first thing that he showed you, was an improvised bed. Honestly, you felt like crying and thanking him, but you stopped at the later. He seemed quite proud of himself and after urging you towards the bed, he left. You knew that you should be more careful, but you didn’t have strength for that. The moment you laid, your eyelids grew heavy and you instantly fallen asleep. You dreamt about ink.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, Boris is a cinammon roll and I just have to put him in at least few chapters. I also just realised that I should probably post also notes at the end, as usually what I really want to say might be considered a spoiler... Well, you learn all your life?  
> Maybe one day I'll also learn not to read my works before posting and the rewriting half of it, just beacuse I feel like it...

You woke up with a gasp, rising rapidly and regretting this instantly. Your head, even if felt better after a few hours of sleep, decided to scold you for your action and nearly exploded from pain. Small whimp escaped your mouth and you lied back on the bed, hoping it would help with your suffering. The memory of dream, or rather nightmare was still fresh, even if you couldn’t make up details. There was the Ink Machine, humming dangerously, pumping ink through the whole building. You’ve seen operation table, or rather tables, different figures strapped to them. The sound, which you heard on the upper level, came back to you with an image of humanoid creature, covered in in and… smiling? It was all so very chaotic, that even thinking about it made you feel sick. You decided to drop the topic for now and focus on the reality, instead of your the product of your subconsciousness.  
  
You sat up, this time carefully, and noticed with satisfaction that you actually felt better. Even if your sleep was short and restless, it helped. Happy to make even the smallest progress, you once again hoped for the best. You got yourself a companion, found a safe shelter and repaired your health a bit. It was time to look around a bit. The room in which you slept was small, most of its surface was occupied by a single bed, a metal chest and a hammock. There was Boris poster on the wall, which made you smile. What got exactly the opposite effect was ink dripping from the ceiling. It looked like that stuff got everywhere. The most concerning was a stain next to the bed, on which you slept. You didn’t remember it from earlier, but maybe you just were too tired to notice. With a sigh you decide not to think about it further and just leave in search of Boris. The task proved to be quite easy, since the wolf was sitting at the table in the second room of the safehouse.  
  
“I really needed that nap.” you stretched, feeling your bones and muscles slowly waking up too. That was exactly the moment you stomach decided to remind you about your hunger, feeling the room with a growling sound. You wouldn;t have this problem if you had waited for Sammy, but running away seemed like a better option back then. Maybe somewhere in here you could find something edible? You looked through the shelves and made a sound of triumph when you managed to get a can of soup. It should be enough for one person, but somehow it didn’t felt right not to share a meal with Boris. After all, he helpes you so much, you could at least cook something for the two of you. Your continuous searches lead you into the bathroom, where you could at last see how bad you looked. Yeah, no chances of winning the Miss World contest in this state. Your hair was messy and dirty, there were dark shadows under your eyes and you skin was paler than usual. There was also a smudge of ink on your cheek, you had no idea what made it. If you would think about it a little bit longer you would realize that it looked, as if someone caressed you cheek, but being your normal yourself you simply shrugged and cleaned it with you spit. You wanted to wash your face, but the moment you turned on the tap, instead of water, the ink flowed from it. Frustrated, you turned it off, with more strength than necessary, and left the bathroom.  
  
It took you a few more minutes to find another two cans of soup. When you cooked it, the smell made your mouth water. It might have been expired, but you didn’t care, you so badly wanted to eat something and fill the void in your stomach. Boris seemed to share your view and the moment you put a bowl for him, he grabbed it and drank without a single break. It made you giggle and nearly choke with your own meal.  
  
“You know” you started, getting another spoon of soup. “I half expected you to drink it like a dog, you know with your tongue.” Instead of another smile, like you expected, his whole stance seems to collapse a bit. His eyes dropped to the floor, he looked as if he run from your gaze. It made you stop eating and lean towards him, worried by that strange reaction.  
  
“Boris?” there was a pregnant pause and when he looked back at you; his eyes seemed to be filled with pain. He then slowly opened his mouth, revealing a set of white teeth, but that's all. The view nearly made you fall from you chair. Even if he instantly closed his mouth, not wanting to disturb you further, you could swear that you’ve seen a dark scar in the place, where his tongue should be. You didn’t know what to say, so you just babbled whatever came to your mind.  
  
“I’m sorry… If only I knew, I wouldn’t joke like that…” you felt your eyes getting glassy and your voice breaking. Boris, seeing how much you were by his revelation, stood from his place and came to your chair. He crouched next to you and opened his arms, leaving you the choice whether you wanted to hug him or no. This small gesture was enough to finally make you breake and without hesitation you put your hands around his body. You sobbed loudly, you tears making his black fur wet. You knew that it should be the other way, whatever happened to him, you should be the one comforting him. As if feeling your guilt he began to slowly stroke you back. Ah, how much he wanted to save you from living through this nightmare. But he was too weak to get you out of here, just as he was too weak to save anyone else, including himself.  
  
Only after you calmed a bit he slowly released you from his embrace. The two of you were now sitting on the floor, your hair even messier than before and your eyes red from crying. He looked as if he waited for some kind of confirmation on your side, so you gathered all your strengths and smiled at him. “Thank you.” you whispered. Seeing that you felt better he once again smiled at you and stood up, offering his hand to help you do the same. You both knew it was the time to leave the safe house and continue you exploration. You felt like most of the answers, the one behind Boris and his past, were somewhere out there. With your axe in grasp and your new companion behind your back you went into the dark.  
  
________________________  
  
He observed from the shadows, seeing all the pain and distress. It should feel normal by now; these emotions are what drove this place, this machine, in the first place. And still it didn’t feel right, so he used Boris to chase them away. The wolf always proved useful in such situations, rushing wherever he was needed. And, unlike him, Boris succeeded. It sometimes angered him, but acting on it would be a mistake. There was no doubt, that he would regret it later.  
He was still fighting with himself, when the girl fallen asleep. She was nearly out of his reach, which was the characteristic of that place, the safe house. But then he seen her dream, ink flooding them and simly couldn't stand by. He gathered his strength and reached toward her. It would wake her, that much he was certain and it would be a correct raction. What he didn't anticipate, was her reaction to the touch. Instead of jerking away, a rational response that even Searchers exhibited, she leaned into the touch. He retracted rapidly and for a split second he felt just like the girl – surprised and scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love changing the perspetive, but I'm a bit afraid to do it here, cause the fic might become too chaotic to read. Still, when I realised that this chapter was a bit too short even for my standards, I couldn't stop myself from adding the last fragment. Hope you liked it ^^


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogues! Really, it's so refreshing to write actual dialogue. I should probably do some fic in form of a chat, it's really a lot of fun! No worries though, finishing this story is my main goal currently. I hope to publish all the chapters till the end of this year, will see how it go.

It was cold, dark and you started to regret leaving the safehouse. Or maybe you should have looked more around the recording studio before going further? There was a risk of bumping into Sammy, but he was better than these things jumping from ink puddles. And this time he wouldn’t surprise you, besides he probably still believed you were a follower of Bendy. That made you think about his relation to Boris. Did he worship him too? Since it was a yes/no question you decided to go ahead and ask it, hoping it won’t backfire like you joke about tongue.  
  
“Boris, does Sammy thinks about you as a… God?” you stopped, watching him for an answer. After his head shook frantically for a "no", you continued your march. It made you wonder, why Bendy was chosen as the deity and not the cartoon behind you. After all, Boris actually came to life, so it was probably easy to think about him as something divine. Suddenly you stopped in your tracks, making the poor wolf bump into you. He started gesturing to apologize, but you didn’t let him finish, grabbing one of his hands with your free one.  
  
“Boris, are you the only cartoon that roam this place?” you already felt like you knew the answer and oh, you really wanted him to nod, to prove you wrong. But of course after a moment he shook his head, giving you another element for your puzzle. Without another word you started walking again, making Boris even more confused. He wanted to ask you what exactly were you thinking, but had no way to do so. Plus, he was painfully aware of all the dangerous things lurking in the shadows and just wanted to get into some safer spot. For once the silence proved helpful, you needed this time to just rethink everything you knew. The attacker when you turned on The Ink Machine, your dreams, strange behavior of Bendy's cutouts and Sammy's fixation. Even though the only true method to confirm your suspicions was meeting face to face with "Bendy", somehow you didn't look forward to it. Maybe it was your woman's intuition, or perhaps after events of this day, meeting new people seemed even less appealing, than usual.  
  
Thanks to Boris guidance, you managed to reach a room full of Bendy’s merchandise. From every corner you could feel dolls staring at you, their gaze a weight on your back. They varied in sizes and all depicted one of three characters from your favorite cartoon. As much as you loved you own doll, these simply made you feel uncomfortable. It was the same feeling, when you got while visiting aunt Martha and being in the same room as her collection of porcelain figures. There were no rational reasons for fearing them, after all only one hit was enough to shatter them to pieces. This knowledge didn't stop you from having nightmares about them though. Your emotions aside, you simply couldn’t stop yourself from picking one of fallen Bendy's doll and placing on one of the shelves. “That’s better.” you said to no one in particular, looking into his grinning face and involuntarily reciprocating the smile.  
  
“Here you are.” said a voice behind your back. To say that you were surprise was a big understatement. Since Boris could not talk, that meant you were no longer alone. Sudden presence, so close to you, made you scream and turn around, trying to hit whatever crept behind you with an axe. Luckily for both of you, Sammy had enough reflex to step back and avoid getting his head chopped of by your weapon. You weren’t sure who was now more surprised – you, him or Boris, who didn’t even have a chance to warn you about intruder.  
  
“I could kill you!” you managed to cry out, when first shock was replaced by anger. Holly shit, couldn't he inform you about his approach, maybe clasp or something, before sneaking behind your back?  
  
“I know!” he shouted in response and for the first time you actually see him show any emotion. It didn’t last long though. Unlike you, he managed to quickly collect himself. “I mean, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I was worried after your disappearance and came looking for you. I even found soup for you.”  
  
Now you were feeling guilty about you actions, how was it even possible? He was ready to watch you die not so long ago, was so nice now only because he believed you were in his crazy cult of Bendy! You could see the same feeling of disbelief in Boris eyes. Great, they probably have some kind of complicated, fucked up relation and now you were in the middle of it. You just wished that they were not gonna jump to kill each other. Even if Sammy managed to get some of you sympathy, it was unlikely that you would take his side.  
  
“I’m very sorry that I tried to hit you. And thank you for your effort…” it was time to think of some excuse for your disappearance, and a convincing one at that. “You see, sitting there unproductively would not suffice. I had to quickly regain my efficiency, which I lost because of you. Walking a bit seemed like a great idea to do so, until I got dizzy and had to rest for a bit.”  
  
When you mentioned that it was he fault he become visibly ashamed, and you would lie, if that wasn’t what you wanted to achieve. Yes, it felt wrong to lie and manipulate him like this, but it was either that or risking him going full cultist on you.  
“So you feel better now?”  
  
“Yes, much better and…” you didn’t get to finish. Speakers installed under ceiling cracked and a soft humming sounded through them. Boris instantly came closer to you and grabbed your arm. When you looked at him you realized that he was trembling, seemingly scared of whoever was using the audio system. Even Sammy, although his face was hidden behind the mask, seemingly tensed.  
  
“We should leave. Now.”  
  
You didn’t want to argue with that, so you simply followed his steps. Yes, he could be creepy and dangerous, but at least it was a threat you knew. Of course, it would be too easy for you to just leave this place, as you planned. You managed to make only a few steps before gat to Heavenly Toys dropped, blocking the entrance that you earlier used. The three of you stood there, speechless. To be honest, you weren’t really surprised, everything that could go wrong always happened, especially in this God forsaken place.  
  
“Please tell me there is another way.”  
  
He sighed. “There isn’t.”  
  
“Then how did you get here?”  
  
“Through the wall." you shot him a perplexed look. "I guess that is not the case for you?”  
  
“No…” you looked around, searching for some kind of button, but found none. “Any way to open that gate?”  
  
“Going deeper... But I must remind you, that Alice is not a big fan of our Savor and His prophets.” He gave a suggestive look towards you axe and you tighten your grip on it. Your gaze automatically travelled to the speakers, which now were silent. So it looked like Boris was exemption from the rule and all the other inhabitants of studio wanted you dead. Great  
  
“Then we will go.” without further discussion you turned and walked away from the gate. You heard two people follow you, which surprised you a bit. “You’re going with us?”  
  
“I will not leave my sister in need.” he seemed to be hurt by your reaction. Oh if only he knew that it was all a lie. For now you just hoped that whatever waited in depths of studio, would not win against the three of you.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's already ninth chapter! It feels like I started publishing only yesterday, but here we are.  
> It feels so good to give something, even as small as this fanfic, to the BATiM fandom.  
> I hope you get as much joy from reading this, as I get from writing ;3

No more alone, you felt a lot calmer than before. Even if one of your companions was a living cartoon and the other tried to kill you not so long ago, and in the name of some imagined deity at that, it felt good to actually hear more than one pair of feet roaming the hallways. Besides, they knew this place much better than you did, your last memories of these rooms old and unclear. From their behavior you understood, that they already had a chance to meet Alice Angel and that experience might help you survive this situation. Still, you felt strange, when it came to treating her like a danger. From what you remembered, even in the cartoon itself, she was one of the most peaceful and calm people. Unlike Bendy or Boris, she didn’t get any pleasure from tricking other and now she would want to harm you? Maybe it was this place that twisted her. You glanced toward Boris. He somehow managed to remain normal, even though he obviously gone through some horrible things. Still, no one had to be equally strong. What could strengthen one person, mean destruction for another. You learnt this the hard way.  
You reached a small room with elevator in the middle and door to the staircase in one of the walls. Before you could ask which you should use, Sammy and Boris unanimously turned to the later. Well, you weren’t gonna argue with that, even though you already had your share of physical effort. You jogged a little, to catch up with them. The stairs lead only down, so there wasn't much choice when it came to the direction. Somehow, you really didn’t feel comfortable with this idea, somehow it reminded you of going deeper into hell itself. Maybe chatting a bit would help a bit. As much as you wanted to strike a friendly conversation with Boris it was impossible, so you opted for the other man.  
  
“Sammy?”  
  
Your voice made him stop and turn towards you. There was a moment of silence before he spoke and his words made you blood run cold.  
  
“How do you know my name?”  
  
Fuck. He was right; he didn’t give you it when you earlier met, all you could knew about him from the earlier meeting, was that he worshipped Bendy. You really were bad at lying, weren’t you? Only two meeting and you already blown your cover. But maybe, just maybe, not everything was lost. It was time to improvise once again. Since you found a few recordings earlier, you decided to try your luck and guess, that he also kept his memories in that form. Sure, it was far fetched, but there were no other rational options.  
  
“It’s your voice, you sound like a recording I found earlier.” you hoped your face didn't show how nervous you were.  
  
“I see…” there was less suspicion in his voice and more thoughtfulness. “Honestly I don’t really remember a lot from my past, but that name… it sounds right.”  
  
You couldn't believe it actually worked. You really had more luck than sense. Still, his reaction was worrying and made your heart clench.  
  
“Wait. You didn’t even know your name?” disbelivement sounded in your voice clearly.  
  
He shook his head. It looked like even if you mentioned knowing him earlier, it wouldn’t help you anyway. It was practical to keep that knowledge for yourself, but it still made you feel kinda guilty. If returning to him his name made him perk up a bit, maybe filling gaps in his memory would actually help and made him a little less, well, insane? You were already opening you mouths to speak up, when you felt arm grabbing your arm. Upon raising your gaze you met worried eyes of Boris. As if reading in your mind he slowly shook his head, to show that it was not a good idea. You raised one of your eyebrows and cocked head a bit to show, trying to get him to elaborate somehow. He then gestured towards Sammy and once again moved his head. Luckily for both of you the subject of your quiet conversation seemed to be too lost in his thought to realize, that you gossiped right behind his back.  
Only because of how much trust you put in Boris, you made the decision to follow his advice and not bring up more information about past. Instead your focused was once again shifted towards the reason why you actually started conversation with Sammy.  
  
“What I wanted to tell you… I really appreciate that you’ve come with us.”  
  
“I already told you, it was my duty to help you in this situation.” a sigh escaped his lips, even though he didn't even breath.  
  
“Still, not everyone would risk for a person, the hardly knew. It was a really brave decision.”  
  
Once again you managed to surprise him with a simple statement and he threw a startled look in your direction. Your lips curled into a shy smile, making him even more confused. Even without majority of the memories, he felt like being praised was not something that he experienced on daily basis. It felt somehow inappropriate and yet so good. It felt as if with this one remark you made this whole trip worthwhile. Behind the mask the corners of his mouth also raised a bit.  
  
You conversation was interrupted by a loud sound, something between a shriek and low growl. You already heard it once, back when you were looking for the six items needed to start the Ink Machine. This time though it was much louder and closer. As in in answer your entire brain screamed at you to run for your life. The readiness to flee was shared by another of your companion; Boris knew too well that that sound meant trouble. Even if he was relatively safe, at least most of the time, this wasn’t the case for you. Bendy might not have hurt you earlier, but he wasn’t the most predictable person in this place. As for Sammy, he didn’t really care, whatever happened for him would still be not enough to recompense for what he did in the past. You felt the wolf tugging on your sleeve, his encouragement only confirming your fears.  
Meanwhile, Sammy went all cultist again. Under the mask a grin appeared and, when he spoke, you could hear excitement filling in his voice.  
  
“Let’s rejoice as our Savor decided to grace us with His presence!”  
  
Fuck. If the scream from earlier was not enough to make you run, then this statement accomplished it. Before you had a chance to move though a new sound filled the air – steps. Slow and loud, as if something big was coming closer. This also seemed familiar, but you couldn’t really match it to any of your memories. The ink, that just a moment ago stained the walls only in few places, now was pouring from them like a waterfall. Tugging on your sleeve became more urgent, but you simply couldn’t move. A gloved hand was the first thing you saw. The white material was, unsurprisingly, covered with black spots of ink. Then the rest of body emerged from around the corner. It was dripping in ink, just like most creatures living in the depths of studio, but was much bigger than them. Its silhouette looked like an unsuccessful copy of human body, with legs and arms unnaturally thin and long. And it’s face… You didn’t have to think a lot to realize, where you’ve seen this smile before, even with the rest of its head hidden under splash of black substance.  
  
“Bendy…” you managed to gasp, before he jumped forward in, what look liked, an attack. Luckily for you, there was a person standing between you and the demon. It was Sammy, who with a cry received whole impact of Bendy’s strike. You could only watch how his body, so similar to a rag doll, flew into the air. There was an ugly wet sound, when his head and torso hit the wall, splashing on it. This sight was enough to chase away your first shock and give control over your body to the self-preservation instinct. Later you might regret your escape or even feel guilty about it, but to experience that you had to be alive.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second part of your encounter with Bendy and first part of another interesting meeting.  
> Who knows, maybe it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship? I mean, I know if that's true or not, but you get the point.  
> I feel like we're going for 100 kudos and, honestly, it gives me life.

You had no idea where were you running. All the hallways and corridors looked exactly the same, filled with old furniture and spilled ink. Over the sound of beating heart you could hear only your rapid breath and sounds of feet hitting the floor. Occasionally you heard unnatural sound emitted by Bendy beside your back, each time he seemed to be closer and closer. The only source of comfort was Boris hand, firmly gripping yours and serving as a guide in this hell. Even though he didn’t visit this part of studio that often, he seemed to know a lot about its layout. For sure better than you at least.

This amount of running, even with adrenaline in your bloodstream, couldn’t affect your body positively. The headache, which was overtime reduced to blunt pressure in the back of your head, once again felt like an explosion inside of your brain. Your muscles, used to occasional running for a bus, could not handle this amount of physical effort. Even the joints in your ankles and knees seemed to radiate with rising pain. There was no chance that you can outrun the ink demon himself, at least not for a long time.

Luckily for you Boris knew about another way to save you from sharing Sammy’s fate. The moment the two of you reached wooden box with “Little Miracle Station” written on its top, he opened door to it door and shoved you inside. Your attempt to protest was stopped by one finger placed on your mouth. Before there was another chance to speak the door was closed and through the small hole you could see Boris turning away from you, then running down the corridor. No, no, no. He couldn’t just leave you alone, not after what happened to Sammy and with that monster roaming the studio. Part of you wanted to kick these door open and chase after him, just to make sure that you won’t be alone again. Even if you there was death waiting outside, it felt better to have someone by your side. The more rational piece of your brain made you forget about this awful idea and curl in the corner of your hideout. The steps, that followed you earlier were now getting closer and soon you had another chance to take a closer look at “Bendy”. It was hard to believe that it was actually him. Yes, he had his smile, gloves and a white bow-tie, even if it was slanted, but still his whole posture was simply wrong. And his behavior… There was no playful trickery, characteristic for the cartoon, only bloodlust and madness.

You expected him to continue the chase, but instead he slowed down and then stopped, not more than few meters from the Miracle Station. Did he know that you were inside? No, that was not possible. A nasty voice inside you head choose this moment to remind you that this word didn’t exist in this studio. How did it go? Ah yes, dreams come true. No, you didn’t want to think about any of this, especially not know. While you tried your best to silence stream of unpleasant thoughts, his head slowly turned towards the box, in which you were standing. You raised you hand and covered you moth, to make your breath as quiet as possible. You could swear, that even though he didn’t have eyes, he looked directly at you. It was funny actually, how even despite these occasional thoughts about ending your life, known surviving was all you wanted. Maybe it was the superiority of pills over being torn to shreds by a living cartoon, who somehow changed into an ink demon?  
After what felt like an eternity Bendy turned his head in other direction and again started walking down the hallway, this time much slower. You remained still for few more minutes, before finally relaxing and taking a deep breath. Was it really over? You carefully pushed the door to your hideout and stepped out of it. The studio was quit once more, not even a single trace of what just happened. All of this really felt like an awfully realistic nightmare, but you’ve seen enough proofs that it was in fact completely real. It wasn’t like a dream, in which you died just to wake up in your warm and comfy bed. End in here meant end for the rest of the world too.

You decided that no good would come from standing unproductively in the middle of a hallway, moving seemed like the best idea. At least, seeing new places, maybe your brain would get occupied with them. From lac of better option, you decided to continue your search for a control panel for the gate back in the Heavenly Toys. Maybe, just maybe, you would be able to find another exit in the meantime. You should probably also try looking for Boris, maybe he already managed to run from Bendy and the two of you could be reunited once more. Even if the wolf couldn’t talk, his presence was enough to make this place more bearable. And he certainly knew much more about the dangers lurking in the hallways, than you. That actually made you wonder whether the abounded studio had any other types of enemies waiting for you. Even thinking about monsters that could lurk behind every corner made you tighten your grasp on the axe. It was a useless reflex; you already learnt that fighting wasn’t the preferred option for your body. You would either freeze and get yourself killed, or run for your life. Honestly, the only enemy that could be defeated by you with this axe was a lonely board, blocking the exit. Pathetic.  
Your thoughts involuntarily came back to Sammy… He treated Bendy with so much respect, but that didn’t seem to be enough. If you survive, that sight and sound of his body splashing on the wall will probably haunt you forever. You’ve already had your share of seeing dead bodies, but you’ve never seen anyone actually dying or rather being murder. Suddenly the air was filled with a crack of speakers, making you freeze and jerk your head up to the closest one.

“Are you lost my little star?” a female voice cooed at you. “Come to me my dear, I’d love to take a closer look at you…” the last words sounded much more sinister to you, sold sweat covering your back.

Yeah, no way you were gonna follow the order. Unfortunately, as much as you wanted to go in opposite direction to the “Alice”, you didn’t know which direction she was in. Something told you, that with your luck, you will soon end up meeting her anyway. Perhaps the fear that Sammy and Boris showed was a bit exaggerated. What if you could actually get some help from her in escaping this God forsaken place? It might be worth a shot, even if you risked getting yourself killed. Actually, whatever you decided to do, this risk was probably always there.  
It didn’t take you long to reach big metal door with Alice Angels slogan over there. “She’s quite a gal!” stated the inscription and you certainly didn’t want to argue with that. Your doubts, whether it was the right place, soon disappeared when speakers cracked once more, foreshadowing Alice’s appearance. Why you had this bad feeling, that even though you couldn’t see her, she was observing you all the time?

“You are very pretty, aren’t you?” she spoke, in a tone so sweat that you felt your teeth decay.

“Ah, thank you, you are too kind…” you really had no idea how to react to her compliments, red covering your cheeks. You decided to blame the place and all the horrible events of last few hours for your exaggerated reaction.

Was she being genuine or was just mocking you? It wouldn’t be that surprising, you had your share of kids throwing nasty remarks at you, especially when you were smaller. You could clearly remember them as if it was yesterday, their ugly smiles and mocking voice. At first you reacted with crying, looking for comfort to adults, waiting for them to stop the suffering. Later you realized that it was useless. You were the one labeled as overreacting and antisocial. The worst they got was a lecture from your teacher, which only made them seek revenge on you.

“Oh, trust me, I'm not. After all, we, beautiful people, must simply help each other. Because you will help me, right?" her voice changed during the last statement, making you nearly take a step back. God, what did you get into this time?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, whenever I add a new character to this story I feel like "my God, I really love them, they're not bad, the world is just a horrible place, etc". Well, that's not the case with Alice XD  
> I got a business trip (God, that sounds serious), so the next chapter might be a day later than planned, but the dates of the rest don't change anyway. Still, I'll try to post it normally, even if I come home in the middle of the night - everything for my readers <3

“So, my little star, why don’t we start with something easy?” Alice continued with her monologue, not registering your unhappy face or lack of any answer. You had a feeling it won’t be as easy as fooling Sammy.  
  
Although she said "we" something told you that all the work, that she had in mind, was planned for you. It wasn't actually surprising, in your workplace everything worked the same. There was an apodictic manager, giving orders, and his subordinates, trying to do their tasks, but getting only criticism in return.  
  
“It’s good that you got an axe, let’s make an use of it.” Lack of answer didn't seem to discourage her. She was once again that disturbingly calm and sweet Alice. The swings of mood made her even more unpredictable, which was worrying. The odds that she orders you to go and split somebody’s head open or chop some boards were even. Please, let it be the latter option.  
  
“For now just go back to Heavenly Toys, that’s where your task is waiting for you.” When you didn’t answer nor move right away she seemed to get offended and her niceness was gone once again. “You deaf? Go!”  
  
She didn’t have to repeat herself, before you had a moment to think it through, you were already on your way back. When did you lose all your assertiveness? Maybe it was just you self-prevention instinct, who had enough of you stupid shit, and decided to take control of your body. It was probably the best that could happen, giving how you were close to getting yourself killed multiple times during just one day. And people asked what you didn’t want any living creature living with you. How could you take care of some defenseless dog or cat, when you couldn’t even get a hold of your own life? The last pet you had died after around a month. It was a golden fish, which you won during one of festivals, only because you were sorry about its fate. Now, you weren’t sure whether its life wouldn’t be longer if it stayed in the hands of that stall owner. At least it spent its last day with a nice view of your bedroom.  
  
You were moving much more cautiously than before. If there was one thing that you learned from earlier meeting with Bendy, it was an awareness of you surrounding. Every little sound seemed to make you stop; all of your muscles were tense and ready to carry you as far from the danger, as possible. You also mentally noted positions of potential hideouts. With surprise you found out that these Miracle Station were quit common throughout the building. At least that could help escaping from the demon much easier, if only you had time to register his appearance. It shouldn't be that hard, up to now he was always quit noisy, even his breathing was noticeably loud and heavy.  
  
You were painfully aware of the place, in which Sammy met his end. You tried to look straight forward, but lacked willpower to do so. Instead you gaze automatically traveled to the wall, on which his remains were scattered. Or at least should be, because the moment you looked you realized with surprise, that the only trace of his death was a small pool of ink on the floor. Was it really all that remained of him, a person who was an old colleague of your father, human with his own life and ambitions? You weren’t sure whether he had any say in his fate, but was pretty certain, that this cursed studio played a big role in his madness. Will you share his fate, if you don’t get out of here quickly? You could already imagine your body, transformed into some kind of monstrosity, roaming this place, not even knowing your own name. Once again you felt so close to having a panic attack, you had to leaned on the closest wall to steady yourself. You couldn’t think like this, you had to be strong. Maybe it was too late for Sammy, but you were still kicking. There was also the case of Boris, if you could find him, maybe he would leave this place with you and get a chance to live without fear. You wiped a lonely tear from your cheek and frown. This was not the end of your story.  
  
Reaching Heavenly Toys was more time consuming, that you anticipated. You were so focused on escaping Bendy earlier, that you completely lose track of time and now the way back felt like an eternity. You also stumbled into a few dead ends, which made you even more stressed. All the demon had to do is corner you in one of them and use his unnatural strength to tear you apart.  
  
At last you reached your destination and carefully looked around. Last time you were here you had two companions, now you were completely alone. Or maybe not completely, after all Alice Angel was watching every step you took. You were reminded of her presence the moment she spoke through the speakers once again.  
  
“Very well, my little star.” of course she was happy that you obeyed her orders. Even though you just met her, she stroke you as an authoritarian person. It was strange, her personality didn’t match the one possessed by the cartoonish version of Alice Angel. The girl from animation was sweet and calm, she was much less mischievous even than Bendy or Boris. She was maybe a little less popular because of that, but you still loved her with your whole heart. To see her, completely transformed, broke your heart.  
  
But Alice didn’t care for your feelings, she was determined to use you. With the ink demon roaming the studio, his monsters on around every corner, she was left powerless for too long. Even Sammy was on his side, worshipping him as his savor. He met a fitting end for all of his stupidity. And then there was Boris, who tried to maneuver between her and Bendy, his idleness enough to make her hate him. Now she saw her chance, with the girl untainted by the studio. Maybe she was the last component needed for her to become perfect? Of course before she would try it, there needed to be preparations. If that stray could prove useful in ways other than dying, she had to take advantage of that.  
  
“You can see his face, can’t you? Grinning at me, mocking? Now, be a sweetheart and take care of it!”  
  
You didn’t exactly understood what she was talking about. The only thing with a smile was a set of Bendy cutouts and a few of his dolls... Wait, did she really wanted you t destroy it? You felt your blood boiling in your veins. How dare she ask something like this? Of course, you were far from being a fanatic like Sammy, but that didn’t mean you were automatically going to commit such an act of unnecessary vandalism. As much as the living Bendy might be responsible for some terrible deeds, the cartoonish version of him, depicted on the cutouts, was connected with one of your fondest memories from childhood. Maybe you were overreacting, but after all that happened, you had the right to be a little bit unstable.  
  
“No.”  


“Excuse me?” her voice was filled with disbelievement.  
  
“You deaf? I said no!” Oh, revenge was so sweet, even if something told you that you gonna regret it very soon. Still, you couldn’t stop yourself from inner celebration of your small victory, standing for youtself and not being a puppet in someone's hands.. It felt so good to triumph, even for a short period of time.  
  
You actually anticipated a retort from her; perhaps some threats that would make you regret your decision, maybe a forecast of what she will do to you for this affront. She actually started to speak, ready to unleash her full fury on you, but before she could utter a single world, the speaker went silent. When you looked up you realized, to your surprise, that it was now flooded with ink.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I slept 5 hours during last 48h and most of the last two days were intensive as hell. Still I'm here, answering all the comments and posting this. Let's say it's an apology for what happened to Sammy and earlier cliffhangers.  
> If you ever wondered what I listen to when I write, I can tell you that this chapter was inspired by song The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness.  
> Actually whenever I get to this story that song is really inspiring. Plus of course I simply adore all the music connected to BATIM, like Horror Show, Bend You Till You Break or Can I Get An Amen.

“Take that, bitch.”  
  
She already probably hated you, so you could as well say out loud what you really though. Still, you tried to play it cool, only letting a small smile form on your lips, even though on the inside you were doing a victory dance. You were probably overreacting, but the number of things that went wrong, from the moment you entered the studio, was too big not to cherish your small successes. Of course, you had no idea what you were gonna do now, but it wasn’t anything unusual at this point. You could just explore more of the rooms on this level, sooner or later you would have to stumble into that switch opening the gate and get a chance to leave. And with some luck you might meet Boris. Or maybe he realized that this was the last familiar place to you and would actually come back? Perhaps it would be ok to stay here for a moment, just to gather your thoughts and let your body rest. Even thinking about sitting down for a moment made you feel better, so you looked around for some bench.  
  
That’s when you heard the steps. Was it possible that your way of thinking was correct and you would be soon reunited with your wolfy companion? But there was something off, the steps themselves appeared rapidly and seemingly out of nowhere. Plus there were too close to you for your comfort. You should certainly turn around and check it, but in your own stubbornness you decided not to do this. Every single character in horror films, in this kind of situation, checked what was behind her back and it usually ended with her dead. Maybe it was stupid and naïve, but you simply would continue to stand like that, waiting for the other person, being or whatever it was, to move. You used this moment to let your eyes roam the room for any way of escape, if it came to that. Of course, you chances of running away were slim; you were certainly too close to your potential attacker to stay unharmed. Anyway, the only way of leaving this place was taking the direction from which you came here, which was behind your back. Just fucking great.  
  
“You… cease to… amaze me…”  
  
The voice behind you was raspy and its owner seems to have some trouble with speaking. Or maybe he simply choose his words carefully? It sounded much more human than the earlier sounds, but you didn’t have to think much to determine who its owner was.  
You should probably also think a bit about your answer, after all it might be the last thing you coming from your mouth before you get brutally murder.  
  
“Nice.”  
  
Not your brightest moment. You actually felt a very strong urge to hit yourself. Preferably with the axe you were clenching all this time. It was worse even than your failed attempt to ask your last crush on a date. You really tried hard back then, spent hour in the toilet perfecting your make up. As for your clothes, you choose that pale blue dress, so you had to shave your legs and that was an admirable effort on your side. You found them sitting alone, their eyes plastered to the screen of a smartphone. You made your way in their direction, your hips swaying more than usual, lips decorated with the most relaxed smile you could pull off. The beginning was not so tragic, a simple talk “hi, how are you?” etc. Afraid that you will simply funk and run away, you asked him whether he enjoyed going to cinema. To your relief he said yes and started getting all excited about the last film he seen. The best thing – you knew it too and a wonderful discussion started. The development of characters, the plot twists that weren’t at all cliché and heart-warming music – you talked about everything. There was a warm feeling in your chest, there was an undeniable connection and you were more and more eager to ask the fateful question. The moment you opened your eyes his own gaze traveled to the road and his smiled broaden. “Looks like my taxi is here. See you, Martha.” And like that, he was gone. You probably wouldn’t be that heartbroken if he didn’t call you the wrong name. That asshole knew you for 3 years and he didn’t even remember that one thing correctly.  
  
You certainly didn’t expect to hear chuckle from behind your back, even if it was a bit awkward, you answer seemed to be … acceptable? “Nice indeed.”  
  
Were you allowed to turn around? Now that you were well, talking, it seemed rude to stay like that, with your gaze focused on nearby wall. Besides if you were correct about the identity of your new companion, it wouldn’t be first time you face him. The moment you tried to move though he stopped you with a quick “Don’t!”, making you jump at how darker and less human it sounded compared this earlier voice.  
  
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you…” even though he seemed truly sorry, you had enough of it. This whole situation messed with you nerves so much, that you didn’t really think before speaking.  
  
“Well, too late buddy, guess you should have think about it before killing Sammy!” your voice broke at the end, making you practically squeak the last words. There was a move behind you, but before you managed to react, he launched himself at you. With incredible strength you were pushed against the wall, only quick reflex saved you from bumping into it with your head. He didn’t use his full force, if that would be the case, your story would end right here. Still, it was enough to take your breath away and bring a wave of pain through your body. One of his hands was on the wall next just inches from your face, while the other kept you in place, making it hard to breath, not even mentioning moving.  
  
“You have no idea what you’re talking about! But what can I expect from some filthy, little human?” It was getting harder to understand him with every word leaving his mouth, the voice changing into a growl. There was no doubt, you managed to piss him. Normally you didn’t care about others opinion on your person, but the individual behind you was applying more force with every word and you had a feeling, that your bones wouldn’t survive much more. “Of course you took a liking to that dirty cultist, he and you are-“  
  
“Bendy!” you cut him off, crying in pain.  
  
“What?!” he was surprised to be called by his name, but not enough to make him snap back into reality.  
  
“It hurts... Please…”  
  
Now, the way you spoke, it actually taken him aback. He already heard that kinds of pleading before, there was even a time in which he was the one speaking them. This time the anger he felt was turned not only towards you, but also himself. The pressure on your back became weaker and you fully took advantage of the chance to breath deeper. While you tried to calm yourself a bit, a heavy silence filled the room, distorted only by air filling and leaving your lungs. You didn’t understand what he wanted from you. If his goal was your death, there was nothing stopping him from achieving it. You weren’t physically strong enough to free yourself and you trusty axe was lying on the ground outside of your reach. You dropped it the moment Bendy attacked you, as you tried to minimalize the impact with your hands. Besides, even if you had any weapon, you couldn’t possible defeat a real demon.  
  
“Why all of this? You said at least, no more will to fight in your voice.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Why sparing my life and talking to me, if you want me dead?”  
  
“This is not… what I want.” How did he manage to sound hurt and lost? You were the one who just lost all hope for leaving this place alive, not him. Full of frustration, you let your forehead hit the wall. You used a little too much force, but at this point any additional pain seemed like nothing and it actually managed to help you forget, even for a moment, about all this hell around you. “Hey, don’t do that.”  
  
Did he just cooed at you? Goddamit, his moods were changing faster than Alice’s. With such an unpredictable individual you had no idea how to proceed. Before you had a chance to rethink this idea, your head instinctually tilted back, as if another bumping into wall could make you think of a rational approach to this situation. Instead of meeting the hard surface your skin touched a soft material of the glove covering hand, which was moved so you wouldn’t hurt yourself again. This whole situation was simply unbelievable.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really got some of you worried about me, so I officially announce - I slept a lot after that day! I even decided to relax a bit and played a new visual novel, Nightshade, really great.  
> Coming back to the fanfic though, if I had to sum up this chapter, it would go like "Alice being a bitch", so yeah, you've been warned XD

Coldness of the wall effortlessly penetrated your clothes, making you shiver. You brain tried desperately to somehow make this situation more bearable, sending your thoughts in really strange directions. It was funny how you earlier thought whether talking to him while facing opposing direction was rude and now you involuntarily ended in this position anyway. A giggle rose in your throat and you made no effort to stop it. Maybe you were losing your mind? After all that happened inside the studio it wouldn’t be a big surprise. Your mental health wasn’t perfect even before your arrival here and the things you witnessed – living cartoon, people being smashed into a puddle of ink, pentagrams drawn on the floor… Your condition certainly didn’t improve.   
Your strange behavior confused Bendy further, which was nothing new actually. Most of your action seemed strange to him, totally unpredictable and sometimes simply lacking any sense. This time though he worried, that your sudden change in your mood might be an effect of his actions. Maybe he hit you too hard? The familiar feeling of guilt flooded him, making him step back. And then he did what he usually did in such stressful situation, if he had full control over himself – disappeared into one of the nearby walls.

Before your initial shock, at being free again, disappeared you were once again alone in the room. Confused at what just happen, you took a long look around the room. Did your weird behavior was actually a deadly weapon, that would make even the strongest of your attackers run away? You chuckled at the idea, covering your mouth with hand, to stop yourself from laughing out loud. It really felt like you were losing it. Was that how people felt before their mental breakdown? Did Sammy was once in your place, giggling at nothing. Ok, let’s try to calm down a bit and just breathe evenly for a moment. It took you a few minutes, but seemed to actually help, as you thoughts got clearer and your heartbeat slowed down. Worrying that your condition might worsen again if you don’t act quickly, you grabbed your (useless) axe and went back into depths of studio. You just had to keep busy with something, exploration of this place sounded good enough.

Since the rest of speakers were still intact you half expected Alice to speak to you, she didn’t seem like the type to stay quiet after someone insulted her. Still, the only sounds filling the air were your breath and feet hitting wooden floor. You’d rather she just screamed at you, the anticipation was killing you.

Even though your nap was not long ago, you once again felt exhausted. It might have been the roller-coaster of emotions that wore you down so much. Even though you tried to stay on your guard, there was no way to win over fatigue. It wasn’t long before you reached staircase again and looking all the steps down made you stop. There was a nicely looking elevator on your left, only waiting for you to make a step inside and press a button. You remembered clearly that earlier Sammy didn’t seem to be eager to use it, but looking how he ended, maybe you didn’t exactly want to follow all of his actions. Feeling how your legs grew weaker with every passing minute, it probably was even safer to use the lift – at least you wouldn’t risk falling head down through a few floors. As all the decisions until now, this one wasn’t easy, but you decided to trust the device.

After the first cautious step inside, you relaxed a bit. The machinery seemed to be in quit good condition, surprisingly there wasn’t even ink on the floor. Treating it as a good omen, you pushed one of the buttons and doors closed behind you with a quiet click. This situation seemed the most normal since you entered the building, with only noise of working cogs filing the small space. Hey, there was even music! Oh, this felt exactly like the elevator inside your workplace, where sound of radio made travels much more bearable. There was nothing better than some pop songs killing the uncomfortable silence while traveling with Lisa from accounting or Jerry from IT. Still, the tune that was playing now wasn’t something as familiar as the newest Katy Perry single. Still, you felt as if you already heard it somewhere. Yeah, that much you were sure, but where? Wait. The Heavenly Toys. Before your panicked brain got any time to analyze the newest discovery, there was a loud crack above your head, as a part of mechanism broken. Elevator cab, with nothing to keep it in place any longer, plunged down with you inside. A scream left your throat, but it didn’t last long. As soon as the lift met the floor you were forcefully thrown off balance, your body bumping into one of the walls, just to bounce from it and hit the floor. You barely registered bloodcurdling laugh that filled the studio.

For a moment you weren’t sure where was the bottom and when the top, all of your senses shut down, pain making it hard to think. Adrenaline, pumping through your veins, pushed you to move a bit, as filling the lungs with air was really difficult in this position. Your first attempt to pull yourself up failed, the world spinning too fast around your, every sound obscured by ringing in your ears. God, if all of your bones were still intact, it would be a miracle. And all of this only because you were too lazy to use stairs. The painful awareness that you could avoid this situation only making everything worse. You managed to roll on your back. Breathing proved much easier in this position, though not completely painless. Actually, it was hard to assess damage done to your body by the fall, as you felt like a one big ball of misery and suffering. A cough shook your body, every single cell protesting against the violent movement. You needed just a moment, a few minutes, to gather yourself. 

That’s how it always is, right? The life throw everything it has at you, so again and again you could raise stronger. But, maybe, just maybe, even you had a limit of possible strength. Was it really worth to gather yourself, just to be shattered again? Another try and you actually manages to pull yourself up a bit, your back against a metal fragment that once was a part of elevator. It was nice and cold, the cool surface helping ease the pain of your injuries. Out of nowhere you remembered how your college used to say “when my tooth hurt, I pulled it out”. It made you giggle a bit, in your case getting rid of all sources of pain would probably kill you. Though, maybe even if you don’t follow that advice, you will die anyway. What an irony – an old elevator would achieve what mad cultists and ink demons could not.

Lost in your thoughts and with eyelids shut tight, you didn’t notice a single light, which appeared in the darkness of nearest hallway. It became bigger and bigger, seemingly focused on your person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter was mostly dialogue, so for balance, this one lacks it. Yeah, sorry, it just hard to write any conversation when there is only one character present XD  
> Anyway, do you already know who will make an appearance in next chapter, judging from last fragment?  
> Hint: it's another character I love.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a bit slow with responding to comments, but student's life isn't an easy one. Especially with the amount of exams, I have no idea who decided to set so many tests before Christmas break.  
> Also, did you realize that's it's now a month since I started posting this? God, it feels like just yesterday I stumbled into a BATIM video on YouTube and now here we are.  
> I also forget to thank all of you for over 100 kudos, so yeah, big hugs for all of my readers <3

You weren’t sure at which point you lost consciousness, but it wasn’t really surprising, taking your state under consideration. Even though your eyes were still closed you could say that there was a source of light very close to your face, strong enough to cause discomfort even though your eyelids were shit tight. But where did it come from? Last thing you remembered was lying on the floor of ruined animation studio.... Oh God, did you die? There were so many stories about people’s experiences during clinical deaths and many of them featured a bright passage. You hoped that was not the case. Besides, if you actually was no longer alive, how did you feel still all the pain in the body? Shouldn’t all the suffering disappear with the last breath, the last beat of your heart? Maybe it was just you luck, no rest even in death. It wouldn’t surprise you, really, looking how all the last events unfolded for you. You should probably open your eyes, staying like that won’t bring you back to life anyway. Perhaps there was some impatient deity waiting for you to follow you or something. That reminded you how Sammy called Bendy the Savor. God, if the ink demon won’t leave you even now, you’re gonna be pissed. There was that irrational giggle raising in your throat once again, but you managed to stop it this time.

You tried to open your eyes, the light surprising you with its intensity. It was nearly painful to look at, a set of wrinkles appearing between your brows, as you tried to keep eyelids from closing. As if to help you with your struggle, the light seemed to move lower, allowing your gaze to travel towards its source. This didn’t help you with your confusion though, since there was a fucking projector about 15 centimeters from your face. Your scream of surprise changed immediately into a cry of pain as you tried to get more distance between you and that thing. You were not the only one distressed though, as the creature itself emitted a shriek and jumped back. The sound came from a speaker on his chest, but you didn’t really care about the source of the sound as much as how painful it was for your ears. Covering them with palms didn’t help much; it felt as if eardrums are ready to explode. Luckily for you, your new companion stopped screaming as rapidly as he started. The light was once again focused on your face, making it difficult for you to shot even a single gaze towards the monster. Once again, as if sensing your discomfort, it shifted, moving towards your chest. In any other circumstances you might have find staring at your breasts uncomfortable, but now you were just happy to be able to look around freely. Or, more exactly, to examine your newest friend (or foe, that was to be seen).

The projector, now tilted a bit downwards, seemed to work as a head of the creature. It was also the source of light, its direction indicating where it was currently looking. The rest of its body was either covered or constructed from ink, with a few cables hanging here and there. A single film reel was stuck in his shoulder and you felt an unhealthy curiosity about it content. You weren’t the only one focused on analyzing, the projector moving slowly, but steadily, trying to understand what you were. He had time to take a closer look, while you were unconscious, but now he could also observe your reactions towards his person. No hostile behavior was the first surprise, most monsters roaming the studio were trying to cause harm even when smashed in half. You though, seemed to be simply surprised and scared. Was one of the Searchers chasing you? And what exactly happened to the elevator, its malfunction the most probable reason behind the injuries. Yes, the wound should be treated, even though he wasn’t exactly sure how. Perhaps closer inspection would help?

You were slowly relaxing with how still he was, so the moment he actually moved caused you to panic a bit. What was even worse, was the direction in which he moved – towards you. “No! Stop!” you shouted and to your surprise, he did exactly that. Okay, someone actually listened to what you said, that was new. He was even more obedient than some boys you’ve met, hurray. Maybe you could reason with that creature?

“Good. Stay back… Don’t come any closer… Let’s discuss the situation like…” Like what exactly? People? A person and a living projector? Oh God, please have some mercy.

You coughed, trying to mask your awkwardness. “Anyway. I’m sure we can reach a compromise. You know, you will stay here and I will simply leave. Or perhaps you will leave and I’ll stay. Yeah, both versions are okay for me.”

He cocked his head, seemingly listening to your speech. He looked so, well, smart. Sitting there completely focused on your person. You had a good feeling about this situation and even sent him a shy smile. And then he simply stood up and in few quick steps crossed the distance between the two of you. You managed to emit a yelp of surprise and then you found yourself in his arms bride style. Any coherent protest was stopped by a wave of pain crossing through your body, the sudden change of position irritating all of your injuries. There was a sudden blackness threatening to swallow you again and you had to use all the strength to stay awake. It proved to be a hard task, one that required your full concentration and so you didn’t have any chance to fight against your captor. Besides what could you do against him? He was taller, seemed much stronger than you and, unlike certain person, didn’t just survived a near-death experience with malfunctioning elevator. You didn’t even had your trusty axe, the weapon lying forgotten among metal scraps.

You let your eyelids close, since there was no use in watching your surrounding anyway. Everything, expect a small fragment of corridor lighted by light from the projector, was cowered with darkness. By the sound you could tell that the floor was flooded with something liquid, probably ink. It actually made sense, that without proper conservation some of the pipes would break flooding lower levels. Well, at least you didn’t have to go through this room on your own legs, it would probably be really tiring. You should be thankful, really, that this strange creature decided to help you and carry you. And the fact that you had no idea where the two of you were heading? Insignificant detail.

If there was a little bit of optimism in your heart you could try lying to yourself. Just keep your head busy with thoughts how this thing probably knew another entrance and was currently taking you there. You would wave goodbye at him, Bendy and all the studio. There was a small sting of pain in your heart when you thought about Boris, how he would be left here all alone. You really wanted to help him, but how could you help, when even your chances of survival were extremely slim. No matter how much you tried, saving people you cared about, was simply impossible. Actually, it looked like anyone who found a special place in your heart sooner or later met their end.

The creature stopped at least, slowly placing your body on some kind of table. It’s cold surface felt delightfully good against your sore back, slowly easing the pain in your muscles. If only for a moment, you let yourself rest like that, motionless. You could hear the Projectionist moving away from you and a sound of cabinet being open. That was the moment you realized, just what kind of table was under you. The metal under your fingertips didn’t leave any doubts – it was meant for operations.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today’s chapter is brought to you by my faithful drink called "Dan mleko", which keeps me happy and full of chocolate milk!  
> Also I might get a beta reader, so you will no longer have to endure my grammar at the level of 10-years-old pupil, yay!  
> But really, if you got any critique or want to point out an error, don't hesitate, after all this is still my main way of learning and practicing English.  
> Anyway, I'm really excited to see so many people sharing my love for the Projectionist, kudos to you <3  
> As a token of my appreciation take this slightly longer chapter with our lovely boi.

How did you end up in this situation – laying on an operation table, nearly paralyzed with pain, with an ink monster (one of many actually) snooping through nearby cabinet? You must have sinned a lot in your previous life… Projectionist seemed to entirely focused on his search, the light not leaving the inside of cabinet even for a moment. He must have been sure that your state wouldn’t allow you to escape, as he didn’t turn to you even for a moment during last few minutes. It was now or never, you decided as you slowly pulled yourself, so that your body moved towards the edge of the table. You never knew that this could prove so challenging, the pain making you grit your teeth – an attempt to silence moan of pain rising in your throat. One wary look in the direction of The Projectionist was enough to confirm, that he remained blissfully unaware of your actions. A few things were taken from inside of cabinet and placed next to it, though from the distance you couldn’t say what it was. After all that happened in the studio, you weren’t even curious about that.

Your feet touched the floor, shoes disappearing under ink. Moving through it will be a pain in the ass and probably cause a lot of noise, exactly what you wanted to avoid. Still, you needed to try, there was no way you were gonna wait peacefully for whatever he was currently preparing. After a few deep breaths you slowly shifted the weight of your body, every muscle of your body getting ready to stand up. A new wave of adrenaline filled your veins, as confidence pushed you forward. You could do this, that much you were sure. Perhaps further exploration would prove much more difficult, maybe you would have to take a break from time to time. But standing up? That much you could achive.

Of course, you couldn’t be more wrong. As you pushed yourself up your knees surrendered and you fallen to the floor. You braced yourself for impact and getting covered in ink, your eyes closing instinctively… but none of this happened. Instead you were saved by a strong hand, its grasp enough to keep you from collapsing. With a small huff of protest you were pushed back onto the table, your head spinning so much, that you needed a moment before you could even try searching for your mysterious savor. You looked around only to realize that there was no one next to you. Have you already lost your mind? It looked like it. The Projectonist was in the same spot, completly unaware of your unsuccessful escape attempt. How he didn’t hear anything remained a mystery to you... Suddenly a surprising thought crossed your mind. If he didn’t react to your movement and all the noise you made, was it possible that he simply couldn’t hear it? The revelation was unexpected, but it did make sense. Earlier, when both of you screamed, it might have been simply a reaction to your sudden movement. Later, when you tried reasoning with him and he looked as if he was listening, he might have been simply analyzing your strange behavior.  
“Hey!” you shouted at him, testing your theory.

No response came. It looked like you were right. Sure, you had no idea what to do with that knowledge, but it was nice to learn something new anyway. At least you could stop your futile babbling, the would be no answer anyway. Before you got a chance to think further about your discovery, the Projectonist emitted a strange sound. Something told you it was supposed to be an exclamation of victory. He then turned towards you, a package clenched to his chest. You half expected him to return with a set of scalpels or other chirugic tools, but instead he grabbed a first aid kit. The bundle was put on the table next to you, as you gave it a quizzical look. No reaction on your side seemed to worry him, as he pushed the kit closer to you. With shaking hands you reached towards it, hoping that you interpreted the gesture correctly, and pulled it onto your lap. There were no visible damages nor ink stains and when you opened the bag, you found all you could possibly dream of. Expect maybe for map to the exit, but you would be happy with these bandages, antiseptic, painkillers. 

Without further thinking you put the newly acquired equipment to use.There was a small cut on your cheek but you wasn’t aware of any other open wounds on your body, so it was the first treated injury. You quickly washed it and covered with a band-aid. About the rest of your injuries… You really wished you knew more about first-aid, but even that wouldn’t help you diagnose what exactly was wrong with your body. The most intense pain came from you right shoulder and wrist… then there were your ribs… and of course your poor head. The legs didn’t really seem to be hurt, you were so unsteady because of your overall condition. With a heavy sight you decided, that hand seemed like the only thing that you could take care of, so you set to bandaging it, trying to stabilize it a bit. Your technique was not flawless, but as long as there was blood circulated, you were happy with the results. 

As for the rest of your body parts. You looked at the painkillers and hoped they weren’t out of date… And if they were, well, that they won’t kill you. It would be really stupid death, considering how much you already survived. You shook the bottle vigorously and around 10 pills spilled onto your palm. Projectonist emitted a distressed sound and with a sight you put most of them back into the bottle, leaving only two in your palm. That calmed him a bit and you gave him a questioning look. How someone without mouth could knew which amount of medicine was correct? Now that your attention returned to him you realized, how much his whole stance made you uncomfortable. The whole time he was simply standing there, his focus on your hands all the time. Or perhaps he just wanted to be nice and give you some light in this total darkness? It was really hard to tell, especially with no way of communication. First a mute individual, now a deaf one – you really regretted not knowing the sign langue. Though, seeing how they were trapped in here, chances that they knew it were quit small. Was it really the most important thing to think about right now?

So now you just sat there, in silence, looking at each other. On normal basis this kind of silence might have been quite comfortable for you, but currently, you felt simply awkward. Your fingers traced a bandage of your wrist. With no better way to thanks for the help you simply smiled towards the Projectonist, earning yourself a strange bubbling sound. Both of you seemed content with this, eh, conversation?

With most of your injuries treated you decided to make another attempt at standing up. Once again you were putting most of your weight on the legs, this time though your companion was aware of your actions. He moved closer, but didn’t try to stop you. Perhaps it was in case you would lose your balance once again, so he could stop you from collapsing. It was a bit of wishful thinking, you knew it, but couldn’t help a bit of positivism from finding its way into your mind.  
It was only a little easier than before, your legs trembling when you tried to put more and more weight on them. The task seemed to stretch in time and it felt like an eternity, before you managed to stood up, one of your hand still on the table to stabilize yourself. This felt like a strange comeback to first years of your life, with any step being a big achievement.

You quickly realized that walking was in fact much harder that simply standing still, as with your fist movement your legs shook and threaten to give up. The creature, which until now simply watched you with interest, came closer, seemingly torn between offering you help and letting you do everything on your own. Keeping in mind what you just survived, you pocketed your pride and slowly reached towards one of his ink covered shoulders. There was a moment of hesitation before you grabbed it, just enough time for him to move away, in case your touch was unwelcome. The Projectionist didn’t move though, his curious gaze focused on hand. You tried not to squirm at how strange it felt, instead tucking him towards the entrance of the room. Instantly he started walking there and you followed, using the grasp as leverage. Even in your state you would continue looking for exit, that much you knew.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the last one chapter of "no dialogue", I promise!  
> Anyway, I had a bit of writer's block during last week, so I tried writing an far away event and I'm really happy how it came out. Without spoiling too much - there's a lot of Bendy in it and some Boris too!  
> Oh, I also decided to stop my predictions about the length of this fic, cause I'm really bad at it. I simply have too much fan writing this story and some (read: most of) things grow larger than I anticipated. I hope you don't mind it!

You knew that the walk would prove tiring, but still didn’t anticipate it to be that hard. Even in normal situation, the deep layer of ink covering the floor, would make moving much more challenging. Combined with your injuries and fatigue, every step seemed like an incredible effort, you muscles protesting against it. Every time your foot touched the ground it felt as if your knees were going to give up. Your grasp on Projectionist’s body become more and more desperate, soon he was simply dragging you through the rooms. Letting go would probably mean falling to the ground and getting covered in the black liquid, so all you strength was focused on keeping your hand in place, your knuckles going white from the effort.

There was no source of light other than your new friend’s head and so your gaze followed it eagerly. There actually weren’t many things worth your interest, the hallways you crossed completely empty, with single furniture here and there. If the previous places inside the studio looked gloomy, this floor was simply a definition of spookiness. A memory of surgical table, that you were laid on not so long ago, didn’t help you feel any better about this surrounding. You fingers instinctively clutched on your companion’s body, making him stop. Only quick reflex allowed you to move your gaze towards the floor, before full strength of the light blinded you once again. It was really frustrating, that whenever the two of you tried standing face to face, at least one person had to look somewhere else. Of course, it could always be worse, you should be happy that there was actually someone by your side. If you crossed this place alone, there was 100% chance that you’d get lost in the maze of hallways. Your new friends seemed to know the place quit well… Still, you couldn’t stop yourself from comparing him to Boris. Again and again your thoughts returned to the friendly wolf. He was on your mind nearly all the time, the darkest scenarios about him being hurt or dead making you cringe. You just wanted everyone to be safe – was that really that much? Perhaps you were simply naïve, thinking that everybody could get a happy ending.

The two of you reached another room and suddenly your guide stopped. Even though it was quit surprising, it also gave you a moment to catch your breath properly. All the events really had bad influence on both your mental and physical condition. A short walk was now enough to tire you and a memory of a nice and warm bed back in safehouse filled your mind, a sigh escaping your mouth. Rational part of you was aware, that only a few hours passed since your nap. Still, every cell of your body tried to convince you, that your last sleep was days ago and you should immediately crash somewhere. Only fear of all the creatures roaming this place kept you from finding some cozy, and preferably inkless, corner and getting some sleep. Any further attention towards your condition wouldn’t bring anything good, so you decided to focus instead on your present state. What you expected to be a short break stretched in time, the Projectionist seemingly stucked in place. You slowly let go of him and made your way to his front, trying to understand the reason behind this stoppage. Normally you would try to analyze the facial expressions, but that wasn’t possible in this case. Body language also didn’t help much, he just stood there motionless. 

You also couldn’t see anything wrong, there was no obstacle in your way, though the layer of ink on the floor seemed shallower. Were you going up without realizing it? Still, it shouldn’t be a problem. You gave your companion a questioning look, but he remained obvious of it. Either that, or he simply couldn’t give any answer. You tried taking a few steps forward, as to encourage him to move, but there was no reaction. He was looking at you, carefully avoiding staring at your face, but that was it. Was it simply as far as he could go, making it the end of your journey with this original companion? A sigh escaped your parted lips, as you tried to find a solution to this situation. You couldn’t stay here, that was sure. Your goal to escape this place was still on your mind, but that wasn’t all. There was no edible food down here, nor potable water, so you simply wouldn’t survive long down here, even if you tried to do it. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best assumption – you might survive, just like Sammy managed to, at least until his encounter with Bendy. Still, when you thought about his inked body and questionable mental state, a death from starvation didn’t seem that bad. The more you thought about it, the more his fate looked like a salvation, rather than tragedy…

You stopped yourself from considering whether what happened to him was good or bad, realizing how dangerous your way of thinking was. It wasn’t the first time you thought about death as something undesirable. Currently you were still a step from thinking about your own end, but the line was really thin. You knew how easy it was to step over it; you’ve done it many times. Luckily, there was always someone there to pull you back on the good side, sometimes you could even count on your own strength. Now though there was no one on your side to show support and your willpower seemed to disappear with every passing minute. You should treasure the time, wasting it on standing unproductively was simply unacceptable in this situation. With a heavy sigh you made up your mind and decided to simply say your goodbye here. Maybe also express your gratitude for the last time.

You instinctively reached towards him, stopping the motion midway. There was no way to show your thanks verbally, smile simply wasn’t enough, so physical contact seemed like the only way. Still, you felt somehow shy to do anything, even though only minutes ago you were grabbing his shoulder as if your life depended on it. After a moment of hesitation you shyly patted one of his arm, gratitude the only emotion showed on your face. Even though you felt like it wasn’t enough, you had no other ideas and there was no time for further thinking. There was a crazy concept of hugging your companion, but you were too afraid of misinterpretation on his side. What if he freaked out?

For a moment both of you stayed motionless, every second seemed to confirm that your message wasn’t understood. Just when you were about to give up, one of your companion’s hand was placed on your good shoulder, the touch gentle and very cautious. Pat. Pat. This small gesture was enough to filled you with determination. You uttered a single “goodbye” before taking a step back and turning away. Another part of your journey was about to start and you were blissfully unaware of another danger, patiently waiting for you in the depths of the studio. Unlike you, you future attacker knew exactly that you were coming. It made her very, very happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone got my reference to the Undertale? Yeah, I'm in like 1000 fandoms. I may even write something with Gaster or Sans... Okay, actually I already got an idea and maybe a small fragment written, but first I will to finish this fic.
> 
> Also I wasn't sure how to exactly end this chapter, saying goodbye to the Projectionist was simply too hard. But hey, as you might suspect from the ending, our old "friend" will make an appearance! Exciting, right?


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I passed my French exam today and I'm so, so happy!  
> Plus Christmas is coming and I'll have much more time to write and relax. Ok, for me it's actually one and the same, but anyway that's another reason to be in good mood.
> 
> For the people in the back (or simply not reading the comments) I have two things to say:  
> Firstly, from now on there will be more interactions, as some characters are gonna make a comeback. If you read this until know, you probably can say who it is.  
> Second thing, there will be a Bendy's POV. I think it will be a great way to clear some things a bit (and maybe create more questions, who knows).

You could hear steps behind you, as the Projectionist slowly returned into the maze of corridors that was his home. There was no turning back now, the only path being the one ahead of you. It was clear, but still realizing that made you a bit more worried about future. Without anyone to save you from falling, you decided to continue your march with one hand resting one the wall, in case you’d lost your balance and was about to fall. Solid surface under your fingertips proved comforting, given that the room was only slightly less dark, than the one in which you were previously. You could barely see what was around you, further corners completely hidden from the sight. Your imagination was already running wild, thoughts of what could await you in the darkness hunting your mind. The reverie didn’t last long though, as suddenly your foot hit into something, causing you to lose the balance.

Your earlier decision to stay close to walls proved fruitful, as you managed to steady yourself, before hitting the ground and making your injuries even worse. A hiss of pain escaped your lips, as you put too much weight on your hurt wrist. You were pretty sure that you sprained it in the accident with elevator, any touch causing it to send a new wave of dull ache. Even painkillers couldn’t help with everything; you were glad that the dose was enough to keep you from fainting. Yes, there were moments when your vision blurred a little, but you generally managed to stay conscious and aware of your surroundings. Even now, while trying to regain composure, part of you was focused on listening, searching for any concerning sounds. Truth be told, if you were attacked right now, there wasn’t much you could do. Even running away, in your current state, might have proved difficult. Still, you were determined to stay alert and, in case of attack, do everything possible to save yourself. In worst scenario you would at least manage to die fighting. If the heaven was anything like the Vikings imagined, there would at least give you some points for trying. Who knows, maybe you’d start your afterlife with a party in your honor? 

After what felt like an eternity, you managed to straighten yourself and check what exactly caused you to trip in the first place. The object was hidden from your eyes under a layer of ink, but you managed to find it after a moment of searching. To your surprise the shape seemed familiar, amazement painted clearly on your face. In your palm was now resting an axe, exactly like the one you lost earlier during the crash. Of course, it could have been simply a coincidence, after all the studio probably bought many of them in case of fire. Still, something told you that your trusty weapon somehow found its way back to you. It was a strange feeling and you risked a cautious look around, as if expecting someone to stand there and admit that it was their doing. Of course, you were alone in the room, but the feeling of alien presence remained. Instinctively your grip on the axe tighten, the weapon held in your healthy hand. You knew it was useless, standing like that and trying to pierce the darkness. What a pity that your eyesight wasn’t as good as the one of the cat or other nocturnal animal. Actually, it was even worse that of a healthy human, but you never really cared enough to buy corrective glasses. There was always something else to do, much more urgent or important. 

Defeated, you simply shook your head and sighed, once again focusing on walking ahead. It was very tedious, every room exactly the same, but you didn’t complain (at list not loudly). Monotony was a nice variety from all the near-death experiences of last hours. You managed to keep a steady tempo, walking becoming much easier thanks to that. That was of course until you entered another room, which appearance made you stop. You were now at the beginning of long, metal footbridge with a lake of ink below it. Its source was a leaky pipe on one of the walls, black liquid slowly flowing down the wall and into the biggest pool you’ve ever seen. You had no idea how deep it was and, honestly, didn’t want to discover. There was only one way, so you carefully started walking, lack of guard rail making it even more dangerous.

Your full focus was on making one step after another, without tripping. The action was so absorbing, that you didn’t notice the appearance of another person. She moved nearly soundlessly, as she crept closer and closer behind you.  
You could actually be proud of yourself, as Alice rarely left her room. She wasn’t anything like Sammy or Bendy, her main strength being her mind, not brutal strength. Even with all the madness clouding her judgment, she still remained a master schemer - studios machines and mechanisms excellent tools to achieve any goal she set for herself. She actually used it in her previous attempt to end your miserable life. After all there was no other punishment for defying her – only death. The moment you set your foot inside the elevator your fate was sealed. Even if it meant complete destruction of the device, you’d die as a result of its “malfunction”. She was so sure of it, as her plans rarely failed. Killing of another insect always raised her mood and so she was actually pretty happy… for a few hours at least. After that she realized that it was simply a waste of effort, as you somehow survived. Oh, the anger that filled her then… It actually made her quiet reckless, as she instantly decided to carry the sentence on her own and stain her beautiful hands with blood. Surprisingly, there was no reaction from Bendy towards her action, his attention focused on something else. She managed to make her way into the lowest part of studio and found a place seemingly perfect. Then she simply waited, shadows hiding her small frame. With that stupid curiosity pushing you forward, sooner or later you’d fall into her hands.

Suddenly there were hands on you back, pushing strong enough to make you fall. You managed to gasp as your hand desperately trying to grab something, anything. Of course there was nothing to save you from the fall, as your body was shoved of the footbridge. The ink level wasn’t big enough to fully amortize your fall, but managed to minimize the impact a bit. You even kept your head above the ink, only a few drops staining your face and hair. In this whole chaos you managed to lose your weapon, which was now lying next to your attacker. It didn’t last long though, as Alice slowly bend down and picked it up.

“Oh, is it for me? Thank you, darling. It will make all of this much easier.” She hummed, as she slowly walked towards nearby stairs. Her voice was sweet once again, but you knew it didn’t mean anything good for you. You had no proof, but still was pretty sure that elevator accident was her doing. Whatever she planned to do now wouldn’t be any more enjoyable. You knew you were cornered, the only exit behind your attacker. While she was armed, you had only your own bare hands, still painfully sore from earlier events. It might have been the end… and yet you weren’t ready to simply give up. You would fight for your life, even if that caused only more pain for you. How did that saying go? "I'm going to leave this world the same way I entered it - kicking, screaming and covered in blood". Yeah, sounds about right. You didn't even realize when a smirk appeared on your face.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, whenever I write about Alice, I got this urge to make someone punch her.   
> Still, I resist for the quality of this story.   
> I think I earned a cookie for my efforts.  
> The next one will be a Christmas episode, so yeah, get ready for fluff and happiness.

Her pace was painfully slow, pauses between each steps stretching into eternity. She was savoring this moment - the hour of her triumph so close, that she could already taste it. A wide grin twisted her face, both the deformed and normal side of it looking diabolically. It was completely different from the animated Alice, with her gentle smile and dreamy eyes. It looked like both she and Bendy were merely twisted imitations of their cartoonish versions, while Boris somehow managed to remain his normal self.

“Tell me little star, are you going to make it easy or hard?” she sing-song, while tilting her head a bit.

Silence answered her, as a crinkle of determination formed between your eyebrows. You finally managed to pull yourself up, ink reaching just below your waist. You simply stood there motionlessly, no words appearing in your brain. Although that wasn’t true exactly, you got plenty of curses filling your mind, but you weren’t gonna let her provoke you. Your anger would only make her enjoy this even more. You’d rather swallow your own tongue, than give her satisfaction. She sighed dramatically, as she stopped on the last stair above the ink surface.

“Trust me; it’s better for you to cooperate. I promise it won’t be so bad, as long as you play along.”

The small smile dancing on her lips? Just an act. You might have known her only for a little while, but her whole person reeked of lie. There was no doubt that the moment she’d lay her hands on you, she would inflict as much pain, as possible. Perhaps you weren’t a specialist when it came to tortures, but your imagination still made up a few scary visions of what might happen in the future. Somehow you managed to keep your senses sharp and realized something. Alice seemed reluctant to step into the ink, maybe she didn’t want to get dirty, or perhaps there was a deeper reason behind it. Anyway, you decided to use it as a defensive method, even if it could only buy you a little more time. 

It was a bit of wishful thinking, but deep inside you hoped for arrival of someone, anyone really. It was an awful feeling, acting like a damsel in distress, waiting for her knight in shining armor. Being dependent on other was a thing you always tried to avoid, even when you were a child. All the adults always praised you, astonished by your maturity and brightness when it came to solving problems. You were the one kid that was given the most important tasks and watched over others. From the moment you entered the studio again and again you were informed, how useless you were when facing real danger. If not for all your previous companions, you would probably be killed like… five times? Maybe more. It was really hard to count, plus there might have been even more dangers than you noticed.

“You really give me a hard time, you know?”

Alice sounded really hurt by your actions; you have to admit that she was a really great actress. You briefly wondered whether you were the first person to earn her anger. Did any other lost soul entered the building? Maybe there were some curious teenagers, looking for adventure and instead finding death. Or perhaps a homeless person, searching for a safe place inside the abandoned studio. Maybe there was someone who survived to actually leave this God forsaken place… Or maybe all the intruders were killed, either by Sammy as a sacrifice to Bendy, the ink demon himself or in some sick games prepared by Alice. It probably wasn’t the best moment to get worried about other people, but your mind seemed to look for any other thing to focus on. Current situation was simply too much for it.

“Are you really going to just stay there? Do you think that some ink is enough to stop me?!”

She seemed more and more impatient, sweetness disappearing from her voice. Still, despite her threatening stance, she didn’t make a move. She probably expected you to be much less stubborn, ready to admit defeat and behave like a lamb ready for slaughter. The awareness, that even in such a dark time, you managed to surprise your opponent and keep your determination made you more courageous. Or perhaps you were simply tired with her attitude.

“Guess I’m gonna take my chances.” You sighed, crossing your arms on the chest.

It was surprising how steady your voice remained. Somehow you managed to hide all the fear eating you from inside. Actually most of your emotions seemed to disappear, buried deep inside your heart. All that now left was your determination and stubbornness. There were only two options now – you’d either break or stand straight, meeting your fate with head raised high. A high-pitched laugh answered you, Alice wiping off non-existential tears with her free hand.

“You’re really as stupid as to challenge me?! I don’t know how you managed to survive so long, but I’m positive you don’t owe it to your intellect.”

You half-expected her to rush out, to simply snap and finally attack you. Instead it looked like you unintentionally bough yourself even more time, giving her more arguments to insult you. Sure, it wasn’t exactly pleasure to listen how dumb you were, but it was better than being massacred with an axe. You used earned moment to once again analyze your current situation, still hoping for some revelation regarding a way out. Sometimes working under pressured was actually helpful, so maybe all the stress would actually prove useful. You allowed yourself to take another look around the room, trying to find any potential way of escape or maybe a provisional weapon. Eh, what would you give for a gun, so you could wipe off that stupid smile from her face… No, you shouldn’t waste time on thinking about impossible scenarios, your full attention should be on current events. Still, any non-range weapon seemed useless anyway. Something told you that hand-to-hand confrontation wouldn’t end well for you, even if you didn’t lose your axe. You simply lacked enough strengths, one of your hands nearly unusable.

Of course, with your luck, there wasn’t anything helpful in close proximity. Perhaps there was something under the ink, but the last thing you wanted now, was to dive in the dark liquid, without a guarantee of finding weapon. Once again a thought about waiting for help, or even calling for it, crossed your mind. There weren’t many allies that you could count on, a short list forming inside your head. The first one to cross out was Sammy from, well, obvious reasons. The Projectionist might have stood a chance against your attacker, but you had no means of calling for his help, after all he wouldn’t even hear you scream. Then Boris… As much as you loved him an appreciated his earlier help, you simply couldn’t picture him defeating Alice. Even during the confrontation with Bendy he decided to flee rather than fight. That left only one person. If you remembered correctly, he denied wanting you dead, so well, he was his chance to prove it. Hopefully you wouldn’t sound like Sammy, calling out for his "Savor". As if reading your mind Alice changed the subject.

“Look around girl, we are alone here. No matter how loud you will scream, no one will come to the rescue.“

“You’re wrong.” It was a bluff but you wanted to believe it with your whole heart. Besides, that whole monologue about your death really became exhausting. Honestly, if you didn’t lose your axe earlier now would be a good moment to hug it with your face, just to stop her from talking.

“What?” she was a bit taken aback. 

Here goes nothing – you thought, before taking a deep breath, before shouting as loud as you could. “Bendy!”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas time, at last! And with that the promised chapter, which I'm sure will warm up your hearts.  
> Although some of you probably expected a little bloodshed. After all, Alice totally deserved it, but why it didn't happen is a story for another chapter.
> 
> Anyway, for all the people reading as I post it, in December, Happy Holidays for you all. I hope you'll get a chance to rest from everyday problems, preferably with some hot chocolate (or some other drink of your choice), in a nice and safe place.
> 
> And don't worry - next chapter will be there according to plan, as I wrote it earlier!

Your shout echoed through the empty studio. The silence that followed was nearly unbearable, beating of your heart being the only audible sound. It raced as if it was trying to escape from the chest, as a silent prayer filled your mind. “Please. Please. Please. I’m gonna die if you don’t appear. C’mon show yourself.” Of course, he had no obligation to actually come to the rescue. Perhaps he actually didn’t want to have anything in common with you, after all your last meeting ended with his sudden disappearance, probably the most appropriate reaction towards your strange behavior. 

And still, you believed, that if you ask nicely enough, he would play the role of your knight and save you from the big bad… angel? This whole situation was so absurd that once again you wanted to laugh. You probably would do so, but the menacing glare that Alice sent you was enough to make you rethink every move twice. Sure, there was no doubt that she was pissed earlier. But now? If she catched you, she would make your death so painful, that you would plead for her to end your miserable life.

“You little bitch…” She growled, her words barely understandable.

It was like a slap to the face, hearing her prey call out the name of her biggest enemy. She would never admit it, but it actually made her break out in a cold sweat. Of course, it was impossible for the girl to have any actual power over the demon, her shout simply another trick, next attempt at distraction. After all, Bendy didn’t care about anyone. Even Boris was only a toy in his hands, Alice was pretty sure that any harm done to him was simply considered by the demon a form of disrespect towards him and nothing more. And when it came to ordinary human, he wouldn’t care at all about her wellbeing. It was not the first mortal, and probably not the last one, to get lost in the depths of studio and get killed by one of the residents. She had to admit, that the one in front of her managed to survive quit a lot, but that would only make killing her more pleasurable.

“I told you, there is no one-“ she stopped midsentence, her eyes going wide.

The ink between you slowly stirred, a figure forming from it. There was no rush in the action, but Alice quickly realized who exactly decided to make an appearance.

“No way…” She hissed through clenched teeth, axe slipping out of her hand. Alice instinctively took a step back and she almost tripped, as her feet nearly missing the stair. She didn’t need to analyze the situation further to know, that she no longer held all the cards. No only her advantage disappeared, staying here might have ended with her own demise. Actually, that was the most probable scenario, not many survived to tell about an encounter with Bendy.

“This is not the end.” She muttered, as she turned away and sprinted up the stairs.

You could barely see her figure disappearing in another hallway, as your view was blocked out by ink demon standing in front of you. You half expected him to give a chase, something told you that he would easily managed to catch up with her, even despite her heard-start. And yet he remained in place, back turned at you. There was no chance of checking his mood. Yes, he answered your call, but perhaps only to kill you himself. It would mean that he lied earlier, but somehow trusting ink demons was not one of your habits. The whole situation grow more and more uncomfortable with every passing second. You should probably do something, a simple “thank you” being the least you could say. Still, when the main danger disappeared, your courage also seemed to melt. After a long moment of passive silence, it was Bendy who looked at you ever his shoulder, his expression unreadable. You could swear that a quiet sigh escaped his lips before he spoke, his words making you gape in surprise.

“I’ll show you the exit.” 

All you could do was a short nod; as he didn’t even give you time to answer properly, before he started walking. It looked as if he swam through the ink, why you tried desperately to stay close. Only when the two of you entered the stairs, you managed to catch up a little, his pace slow and unhurried. You caught a glimpse of your axe, laying forgotten on one of steps. Before you had a chance to rethink your action, your hand instinctively reached towards it. It became a habit for you, the weight familiar and comforting. Bendy stopped for a moment, aware of your actions, but didn’t comment on it. Perhaps he decided that you went through enough and any snarky remarks would only make everything worse? At least that was your interpretation and you became even more grateful. Of course, you were already tired, wet and covered in bruises; absolutely anything could mean a complete breakdown. As if your physical state was not enough, the slowly fading tension and emotions, after another near-death experience, put you on the brink of tears.

As if sensing your distress another figure appeared on the other end of hallway, which you were now entering. There was no mistake as to who was now approaching you, his pace very quick, worry written all over his face. The sight was enough to make you stop, tears filling your eyes as you vision became blurry. You had a feeling of deja vu as Boris opened his arms and, without hesitation, you embraced him, burying your face in black fur. It was as if you went back in time, all the events of last hours only a bad dream. The previous time you were hugged like that Sammy was still alive, Alice didn’t try to kill you (twice) and your whole body wasn’t one big ball of pain. You were shaking, but the exact reason was hard to point. There were too many thoughts filling your head, emotions swirling inside your chest. As if that wasn’t enough heat of your body was slowly disappearing, even with warm arms wrapped around you.

And still, against all odds, you felt good. The worst was behind you and the exit was within the reach. Your worries concerning Boris seemed to be exaggerated, as he stood there unharmed. There was no certainty that whatever happened to him, while you were apart, was less serious than your own experiences. Still, seeing how collected he seemed, you hazarded a guess, that he didn’t spent last hours on evading death. Perhaps this way of thinking was a bit self-centered and selfish, but you couldn’t care less. Right now you simply needed all the available attention and care.

Small circles were rubbed on your back, as you slowly calmed down. All of this was so very embarrassing. Showing your weakness like that, crying for help and support. Normally, even your friends weren’t aware of your problems. You’d rather bottle everything and cry into a pillow, than discuss things and ask for proper help. Perhaps it was a bit unhealthy… Okay, you knew that it was not good for your health, both physical and mental. And still, whenever you thought about opening up to someone there was this paralyzing fear, clenching your throat and stopping any word from leaving your mouth. It took you some time to realize how complicated reasons stood behind that behavior. Fear of being rejected, of being seen as incapable and unworthy of any sympathy. Destruction of image that you tried to maintain for years – you tried so hard just to be perceived as strong and independent…

But know you could just relax and let the emotion overcome you. It didn’t matter since soon you would live this place, all its residents becoming only a distant memory. Although you didn’t want to admit it, the knowledge that your adventure would soon be over left an uneasy feeling inside your chest. All that happened was not simply a creation of your imagination; it wasn’t just a dream to forget soon after waking up. The arms around you were warm and solid, both Boris and Bendy being as real as possible. No matter how hard you tried to fight the thought, it still appeared in your head – there was no way you could leave the entire studio behind. You had to give it to Alice, she probably was right about one thing – you were really a silly person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so happy for the return of the other characters, writing solo adventures and thoughts is fun and all, but interactions are so much more interesting and simply heartwarming. Plus you know, it's Bendy and Boris, I doubt that there is anyone out there who doesn’t love them.  
> Once again, Happy Holidays and cya on Tuesday!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who would think that spending so much time with family can be so exhausting. Don't get me wrong, I really love them, but as an extreme introvert, there is a limit to number of interactions that I can handle.  
> Okay, enough complaining, here goes another chapter~

The clothes you were wearing were completely soaked with ink, the cold air easily penetrating them and making you shiver. Again and again you tried to warm yourself and somehow get blood to circulate quicker through the veins. Walking faster was out of question, as your condition still didn’t seem to improve much, the injuries and tiredness making it hard to even keep pace with your companions. Even though they seemed to walk quit slow, you had troubles with keeping steady tempo. In a desperate attempt to fight the coldness you tried rubbing your hands, happy to regain feeling in your fingertips. If only you hadn’t been thrown into that pool of ink, you wouldn’t be now suffering so much.

Moreover, when you’d finally go outside it would probably be even worse than here. It was autumn after all, warm days were just a memory. Knowing your luck, it would probably rain too. You didn’t realize that you were pouting until you felt a gentle tug at your sleeve and your eyes met Boris’s. It was strange how easy it was to read from his face, even though his expressions were completely different from these of human. One look was enough to realize that he noticed you discomfort, his eyes filled with worry. There was also a silent question in them, though you hesitated to answer it. The wolf has been helping you all along the way and you felt guilty to overuse his hospitality. Another shudder convinced you to share your thoughts.

“I’m simply a bit cold…” Was that really your voice? It sounded so small and fragile, as if every word cost you lots of energy.

Even though it seemed barely audible to you, it caused Bendy to stop. He turned in your direction and after a moment of glaring at in silence, he exchanged a look with Boris. You simply stood there, too tired and cold to demand any answers as to what was going on, as a wordless conversation took place. While the ink demon wanted to get you out of here as soon as possible, the wolf was positive that the moment you leave the studio, you would just collapse and freeze to death. He didn’t understand Bendy’s rush to get rid of you, they helped you for so long, another good deed wouldn’t harm anyone. Besides, it wasn’t like you were indifferent to them. Even though you knew each other for a day, he truly liked you and could tell that you were a good person. He made up his mind and without waiting for any further confirmation pulled you towards safehouse.

Boris’s stubbornness only further agitated Bendy. Of course, he could clearly see the reasons behind wolf’s affection towards you. You were compassionate and could easily steal hearts of even of the wariest people. Whenever you felt like your problems were about to crush you, you weren’t afraid to ask for help and later try to repay for received kindness. If that wasn’t enough, you mastered the art of forgiveness, trying to understand his action, even though he couldn’t do it himself. Looking at the trembling person in front of him filled him with hundreds of conflicting feelings. Some of the were easy to name. There was jealousy of course, the girl possessing all the qualities that he lacked. Some anger was still present, although he was aware how irrational it was. Aside from negative emotions there was also a positive side, as part of him wanted desperately to agree with Boris and help her further. He somehow hoped for a better future for her, something that was out of reach for him. The rest of his feelings were much harder to define, leaving him confused and, as a result, frustrated.

The three of you crossed the hallways, some of their elements familiar to you. Still, you couldn’t really keep track of your route. You trusted blindly in Boris, as he once again guided you to his place. You didn’t realize when exactly your hand moved, so that you were now squeezing his gloved palm, but he didn’t seem to mind. It was a weak grasp, but you didn’t have strength for anything else. Besides it was mostly for you own comfort – feeling another body made all of this more realistic as your mind got more and more foggy. You reached the safehouse just in time, the moment you crossed the threshold your knees grow weak and you nearly tripped, two hands closing at each of your arms. To your surprise it wasn’t only Boris, who jumped to the rescue, as Bendy put his superhuman reflex to good use and also stopped you from falling. You managed to give him a tired smile, before averting you gaze and looking yearningly in direction of the bed. That’s when you remembered about your clothes soaked with ink and frowned.

“I need to change clothes…” it might have sounded a bit absurdly, but the first thing that came to your mind, was how you’re going to stain Boris’s bed. His sheets looked really tidy, even thinking about lying in them with such dirty clothing made you cringe. Still, there was also a more rational reason – sleeping in wet things would have certainly a bad influence on your health. After all that happened, your body probably didn’t possess much strength to fight off any potential flu or other illness. You already felt like shit, didn’t need any infection to make things even worse.

Of course a part of your mind knew how ridiculous your demand was, you didn’t have any spare clothes and you somehow doubted that the studio kept a wide range of spare t-shirt and jeans. Well, hoping never hurt anybody, so you could at least prey for some clean garment. You were escorted to a nearby chair and seated on it. While Boris disappeared somewhere, Bendy stayed by your side, ready to keep you from falling in case you would doze. You leaned back a bit, letting your eyes wander around, your consciousness already slipping away. Finally you focused your attention on the figure next to you and tried smiling, which proved to be quite difficult task. It looked like even muscles around your lips hardly cooperated.

“Bendy…” you were no longer surprised by how quiet you voice was, not like it matter anyway. Still, you manage to startle him, his head snapping in your direction. Maybe he was thinking about something else and you brought him back to reality? He must be really fed up with your person by now. Just like everyone else, he probably can’t wait till you disappear from his life. Hmm, maybe life was not a good word in his case; this was more of an existence. Still, you were a nuisance to him, the urge to apologize stronger with every passing moment. You probably wouldn’t manage to do it correctly, not with your mind so clouded and eyelids so heavy. Nevertheless, you decided to give it a try.

“I’m really sorry, buddy. I shouldn’t have come and… be like this.” There was a pause as you tried to keep track of your thoughts. You were babbling a bit, that much you knew. If only you could simply write everything down, it was always easier for you than talking. Sharing your feeling on chats or in mails was somehow less tricky than while face to face talk. You realized that you were losing track of your thoughts, a few minutes must have passed since your last sentence.

He was already opening his mouth when you spoke again. “I just wanted to see this place one more time. I thought it will be just like with him... I was stupid, I know. So naïve…” you shook your head, disappointed with yourself. “I’d promise to be better, but I’d probably break my word. Yeah, that’d be a lie. I hate to lie, it's really bad...” last words were merely a whisper, as your eyelids became too heavy and you finally fallen asleep.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I just wanted one chapter from Bendy's POV. Naturally, nothing ever works out, as I planned, so there are actually two parts of it.  
> Since I'm going on a trip to celebrate New Year, the next chapter will be in 2018, I hope you'll understand.

It was an impulse and before he had time to rethink the action, his hand was already grabbing her arm. It wasn’t the first time that he actually touched her or saved her from falling. The last time was back in the basements, where the Projectionist carried the girl to one of the rooms. He was a dangerous creature, just like most of other residents of studio, but at the same time remained moderately trustworthy. Once he decided that she was not a threat, and on the contrary, required help and protection, he would certainly help. Still, Bendy couldn’t get himself to leave, a strange feeling of uncertainty feeling his mind. Rationally, he knew that his judgment was correct, he observed others and could usually predict their behavior (expect for maybe Alice, she was always a big mystery). The Projectionist was never aggressive towards others unless they provoked him first… 

So many reasons to just let it be and yet he couldn’t. There was this strange feeling that the moment he looked elsewhere she would simply get into another danger. Maybe it wasn’t really that irrational, from the moment she entered the studio, death seemed to wait for her around every corner. She seemed to work like a magnet towards all the misfortunes, him included. Lost in his thoughts he nearly missed the movement on her side, snapping back to the reality the moment she sat on the table. He should already get used to the confusion caused by her actions and yet her current goal remained a mystery to him. The Projectionist was actually looking for a first aid kit, even though he wasn’t very successful at it. Her gaze traveled between his back and exit, her plans suddenly obvious – she intended to escape. Could she really be that stupid to try and run away, while she was barely able to stay conscious?

Of course, the moment she actually put her whole weight on her unstable legs she lost balance. Normally he would leave her to it, maybe the fall would teach her something. But the he remembered about all the injuries that she suffered earlier and ink covering the floor, fear for her pushing him to grab her and forcefully put back on the table. It seems like the crisis was averted. If some of the ink would get into her wounds… He didn’t know how much was enough to corrupt someone, but he didn’t intend to test his assumptions on a living person. He was nothing like humans, ready to carry even the cruelest experiments so they could satisfy their curiosity.

The moment something actually got through the thick skull of hers and she accepted help offered by the Projectionist, he at least managed to convince himself to leave. With her new companion she would probably stay relatively safe, maybe take another nap or something. He wasn’t exactly sure how it worked, as he didn’t need any rest to function, but from his observation he deduced that sleep was very helpful in human functioning. Perhaps it wouldn’t heal the wounds, but help with replenishing the energy. She would need it, as the exit was still far out of her reach. Seeing how many obstacles she already encountered, it would probably be a few hours before she manages to set food outside the studio. 

His departure didn’t mean a break, as he simply changed the object of his interest. With a sting of guilt he realized, that in his focus on the girl, he nearly forgot about Boris. Of course, the wolf knew his way through this place and could usually take care of himself without his help. Still, he would normally avoid going so deep into the studio, the further one went, the more Alice’s traps were scattered. Conflict with Alice was usually inevitable once a person met her, so it was simply better to avoid any contact with the fallen angel. This method was known to every resident of the studio and so it wasn’t so hard to track down Boris, once Bendy decided to find him. They knew each other for so long, that predicting each other’s move seemed like a child’s play. That was actually the thing that saved the wolf from being harmed so many times. He could instinctively tell whether his companion was about to snap and knew exactly how to keep his distance until everything went back to normal. It looked like he polished his skill so much, that he even could protect others. Only few hours ago he managed to save the girl from being killed, their run long enough for Bendy to regain some of the control. And even later, when he would push her into one of the stations, he would continue his escape. Yes, truth be told part of the ink demon knew that she was inside the box, but his instincts to chase after fleeing pray won. Sometimes Boris smartness was simply astonishing. On his way he decided to do one quick stop, so he could drop a small surprise for the girl on the route, that was the most probable whether she decided to go forward. “I’m going soft…” he thought, as the axe sank into the ink.

The next time he emerged from a wall it was in the room, where Boris currently was. His presence didn’t seem to startle the wolf, as he simply thrown a single look in his general direction, acknowledging his presence, and went back to handling the console. Unlike the girl he was lucky in his searches, the panel controlling the gate lying in front of his. The mechanism might have been quit aged, but it worked perfectly well. Normally the silence was something common; there was no way to converse properly with one of them missing their tongue. Still, there was no doubt that the atmosphere was far from normal.

“Are you angry at me?”

There was no use in tiptoeing around the issue. Boris gave him a look, his face the only way of communicating his thoughts, but it was more than enough. He wasn’t exactly angry, he knew that there was no use in blaming others for the things that they couldn’t control. There was simply no way to not feel frustrated, when the poor girl was nearly killed and then left all alone, so she would be safe. And he couldn’t even find her later, even though he tried. Instead he decided to focus on opening the gate and then looking for her once again, this time failure was not an option. With a sigh he turned away from the demon, his usual high spirit gone.

“I met her later.”

That was enough to make him drop everything and jump towards Bendy. It wasn’t like he could harm him in anyway, but still the message was clear – he wanted to know what exactly happened, the worst scenarios flashing in his mind. His panic was clearly visible and so Bendy rushed to continue.

“I did no harm to her.” Boris squinted his eyes, spotting the lie instantly. “Okay, I might have been a little harsh, that’s all. I swear.”

The wolf sighed with relief, the tension disappearing from his shoulders. Still the question remained as what exactly Bendy meant by “being harsh”. With arms crossed on his chest Boris glared at his friend, demanding an answer.

“It was-“ he stopped himself midsentence. His first instinct was to put the blame on the trespasser. She was the one guilty for making him snap, when he tried so hard to remain in control. Still, seeing how she managed to win Boris’s favor it was better to avoid discrediting her. Realizing that he remained silent for too long, he said the first thing that came to his mind. “What kind of relation she has with the cultist?”

The wolf looked taken aback, seemingly needing a moment to digest the question. At first he simply stared, too shocked to react properly. Then there was the issue of expressing what he knew without the words. Without doubt Bendy already got some ideas, so he should have voiced his concerns with a simple yes/no question instead of the previous one. Boris tilted his head slightly, trying to make his point clear and encouraging his friend to say something more.

“They seemed awfully friendly and…” wait, that wasn’t the biggest problem, so why it was the first thing that he decided to state. It was so frustrating, how sometimes his words abandoned him completely, while on other instances they flew without control. He took a breath, even though he didn’t need air and tried to focus on the biggest issue. “Do you think she shares his obsession?”

There was no hesitation on Boris’s side as he shook his head in response, making Bendy feel even guiltier about his outburst, but at the same time a strange weight has been taken off his heart.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, the break was longer than I planned, but mostly because my New Year's party lasted till yesterday.   
> I'm really sorry for the wait, that's why I post this chapter today instead of tomorrow.   
> I promise that from Saturday normal schedule will return, even though I got half-year exams in two weeks - writing works as a nice break from cramming (at least I want to think that way).

They stayed in comfortable silence, Boris busy with the mechanism and Bendy completely lost in his thoughts. He trusted the wolf’s intuition, if he deemed the girl trustworthy, the let it be that way. Still there were a few issues that troubled him. His strange feeling aside, her behavior seemed off. For now he was analyzing one thing that he managed to overhear earlier. In one of the conversations she used Sammy’s name and later explained that it was mentioned in one of the tapes. The trick worked well enough, the cultist believing in the lie, but there was no fooling Bendy. The name was used in a few of the records, but it was impossible to connect the information with ink corrupted creature. Unless someone knew exactly Sammy’s voice of course. Was it possible that the intrusion was something more than an accident? The more he analyzed everything that happened, the more it looked like that. Still, the only person that could return with a clear goal was Henry. Things just didn’t much up and he felt like a child trying to complete a puzzle with half of the elements missing.

His frustrated sigh was drown by a shout from the depths of studio. Even though the word must have traveled quit a distance it was easy to understand. Someone was calling his name, their voice filled with hope and despair. The first thought was of course Sammy, but the cultist was currently in no state to speak like that. Besides it sounded like it belonged to a woman, currently only two of them were present in studio. Alice was rather unlikely to cry for him, so that left only one possibility.

A hand suddenly touched his arm, gloved fingers curled around it. The moment he turned his head, he met Boris’s gaze full of silent pleading and worry. To be honest, he needed any further encouraging, his body already ready to move. But it wasn’t all that he needed to do, jumping to the rescue and simply tearing the danger apart wouldn’t do. The right thing, the trickier one, was helping and at the same time not becoming a threat himself. With a small nod he freed himself from the grasp and disappeared in the wall, his senses already focused on finding the right place to emerge.

He could feel her form, standing in the deep pool of ink. She was shaking slightly, either from cold or fear. Of course, it was the Alice that confronted her, with quit oblivious intentions. Truth be told, it was his fault, that she even got a chance to prepare this ambush. After the elevator incident she grew quiet, seemingly happy with its effects. Basement was out of her reach, or rather she preferred not to go there, with the amount of ink flooding the hallways. 

He was so focused on girl’s actions, that he somehow missed the fact, that Alice realized her mistake, deciding to end things once and for all. Only his intervention could stop her from achieving her goal and make Alice crawl back into the hole that she emerged from. Naturally, he was furious. The emotions feeling him were different, he didn’t fully understand them and it only further agitated him. Still, feeling the girls close proximity he fought for control with the instinct. When every part of him screamed to just jump at Alice and claw at her eyes, with all his willpower he remained in place. Still, if Alice decided to start a fight, he would without a doubt end her in the most spectacular way. All of his body tensed, waiting for any move on her part, but luckily she decided to do the smart thing and retreat. He could smell her fear in the air, making it even harder to not give a chase, but the sound of quickly beating heart behind him grounded him in reality.

They won, naturally, but the victory wasn’t full. The girl was pushed into the pool of ink, her body covered head to toe in it – that was exactly what he tried to stop from happening from the very beginning. He remained in the place for a few more seconds, just calming down, and turned to face the trespasser. It wasn’t hard to read her thoughts, all the emotions written on her face, most of them so familiar to him. Fear. Pain. But even now she managed to look so hopeful and grateful, as if all her concerns were directed at Alice and not him. Perhaps she simply lacked the strength to move; as he leaned closer she didn’t even flinch. “I’ll show you the exit.” He’d say and received a small nod in response. Moving through the ink was actually easier for him, than walking on the ground, so he gained quit an advantage. Knowing how fragile human body was and how much she was through, he tried to slow down once they left the pool. A smirk entered his lips, as the girl picked up her trusty axe. It was truly an amusing sight, especially considering that he was the one to return it to her earlier. She didn’t get a chance to notice his reaction, as he quickly turned away, not stopping even for a moment.

That was when Boris finally arrived, naturally sensing what she needed and providing. His actions seemed to put the girl at ease and Bendy silently wished to be able to do the same. Once they were on the way to the exit he used the time to silently accept the fact that it was the end. Strange really, how in spate of over a dozen hours she became somehow a part of the studio to him. It was hard to tell at which point exactly she stopped being a trespasser with questionable intentions, instead becoming a friends to many of studio’s residents. She managed to befriend not only Boris, but also the Projectionist and Sammy. Was it her plan all along, to grab hearts of the ink tainted creatures, just to leave them at the soonest possible occasion? And even so, why did he suddenly started to think about her departure as something unpleasant. His train of thought was stopped then, when Boris decided to once against make a good deed and help the girl. And now here they were, in the safehouse, with Boris gone in search of spare clothes.

The situation was less than happy for Bendy, being inside the safe space making him feel uneasy. It was an unwritten rule that he would not enter this room, its walls being out of reach even when he went berserk. And yet here he was, standing next to a chair, ready to intervene any moment. He stubbornly avoided looking at his companion, instead focusing at some far away point. Still, he couldn’t do anything to get rid of his other senses. He was fully aware of her shallow breathing, heartbeat indicating that she wasn’t scared, but simply distressed with this whole situation. As he didn’t expect her from voicing her thoughts, so when she finally spoke, he nearly jumped.

“I’m really sorry, buddy. I shouldn’t have come and… be like this.” That nickname again… She used it earlier, but on an upper level, as she talked to one of the cutouts. Perhaps her state was much more serious than they expected, if she felt confident enough to speak on such friendly note. Still, it wasn’t the most concerning element of her statement. She was apologizing, for coming here and… simply being? How could she be sorry for her existence was beyond him, but still it looked like that was the case. In a silence that stretched between them he felt like answering was a proper reaction, but words once again failed him. He desperately looked for some, even the most cliché, thing to say. Ensuring her that things were okay seemed like the best choice, but before he managed to speak up, she broke the silence.

“I just wanted to see this place one more time. I thought it will be just like with him... I was stupid, I know. So naïve…” What was the meaning behind that “once again”? It sounded as if it wasn’t the first visit in the studio, perhaps she came here in its heyday. That must have been quite a shock to find it in this state, abounded and corrupted. Actually, that was an accurate description of everything in this building, him included.

“I’d promise to be better, but I’d probably break my word. Yeah, that’d be a lie. Lying is bad...” with her last words she fallen asleep, leaving him all alone with thoughts.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say something about how chapters with no dialogue ended?  
> Well, I lied.

One good thing about being completly exhausted was the lack of dreams. Last thing you needed now was some nightmare, making your sleep less productive. You needed this few hours to regain some strength and let your body regenerate a bit. You fingers grabbed hem of the blanket and you wrapped yourself tighter in it, chasing away the coldness. As you were lying the pain in your body seemed like a faint memory, you hardly felt any aching of muscles. You head felt heavy, but as long as it rested on the pillow, it was bearable. It felt so good, so safe… You wanted to fall asleep once again, reality being a distant and unpleasant concept. It would for sure go away, if you only kept your eyelids closed for a few more minute. 

Your mind though had a better idea as to how you should spend these calm moments, memories of yesterday filling your mind. To be honest, you weren’t even sure if it was actually yesterday or only 2 hours ago, but the images of elevator crash, the Projectionist, Alice’s attack and another meeting with Bendy seemed completely real. Some of them were a bit blurred, either because of adrenaline or fear, but remained true. You heart raced faster at the thought of how close exactly you were do the death, not once, but twice in such a short span of time.

Slowly you opened your eyes, everything around you a bit blurred, so you tried rubbing them with your hand. It helped a little, as your surrounding became better visible. Everything was as you remembered – the clock quietly ticking, a hammock hanged not so far from your bed, metal chest which once contained a can of soup and many other useful objects. Small smile found its ways onto your face as you eyed familiar objects. A strange feeling of nostalgia grabbed your heart, being seemed simply felt so right.   
Foolish thought, you were aware, but at the same time it surprised you how good it was compared to anxious mornings in your own room. It was normal from you to wake up around half an hour before alarm and just lay among messy sheet, gazing into the ceiling. There was always this familiar feeling of something pressure in your chest, you sleepy mind already filling with worries. Some of them made your heart beat faster and you hated how some sitter made you overreact. Still, you couldn’t do anything about it. Your body often refused to cooperate with you, getting all worked up about nothing. Even now you felt your pulse quickening and tried to steady it by placing a hand on the chest. Placing the palm on bare skin just above your breasts helped a little…   
Wait. Bare skin? You raised yourself on the elbows, your muscles protesting against sudden movement. Still, the shock was enough to dull the pain, as you realized that all your clothing now consisted of pants, bra and white dungarees. The first two things, even completely covered with dried ink, were somehow familiar. The rest though you didn’t recognize, their size too big for you. Oh, right, they were practically identical to the ones worn by Boris, perhaps they were his property.

Still, if you were dressed like that someone have to take off the rest of your cloth. The thought made your face heat. Now that situation was much less dangerous you could easily worry about your dignity. Of course, rationally speaking, there was probably no one in the whole studio who could care about your half-naked ass. It’s not like any of the residents were human, so they probably didn’t really see you in sexual way. They were made from ink for God’s sake, a bit of flesh was probably completely uninteresting to them.   
You could easily imagine how hideous you must seemed, your body seemed so useless in a world of creatures seemingly created to kill. Your legs couldn’t even be compared with Bendy’s when it came to length, your steps much smaller and speed simply laughable. While he could tear flesh apart with the claws or throw a human like a ragdoll, which you unfortunately had a chance to see, your strength was barely enough to deal a blow with an axe. Let’s not even talk about the excuse of nails that would probably break, if you tried to hit someone with a bare hand. When it came to the level of danger, you were probably at the very end of the ranking, maybe even behind Boris.

Heck, in your current state even a very stubborn board would be a bigger opponent, than you. Thinking about a piece of wood made your thought wonder towards the axe, which location once again remained unknown to you. How many times have you lost the weapon from the moment you entered the studio? You were probably the least responsible person, not even being able to take care of one small thing for a few hours… 

Wait, was it still only a few hours? Without the daylight it was hard to point how much time exactly passed since the beginning of your adventure. Of course, there was a clock in the room, but there was no indicator whether it was eight in the morning or evening. Normally you would just take a glance at your phone, but last time you checked it was still in the pocket of jeans. Which, naturally, were gone now.

That was of course the moment, in which your body decided to remind you about it needs. A low groawl could be heard from you poor stomach and even though only edible food inside the studio was probably that awful soup, you could feel your mouth watering at the thought of it. Perhaps there were a few more cans of that stuff somewhere inside the safehouse or at least close to it. Maybe going on a hunt for them wasn’t the best idea if done by you, but Boris probably wouldn’t mind, seeing how much effort he already put into keeping you alive. You quickly done a short list of objectives for next hour - eat something, find clothes, talk to Boris and Bend. 

There should probably be also a point about going for the exit, but even thinking about it left you conflicted. As always, there was a war between the brain and the heart. Rational part of you knew that leaving the studio was finally within the reach, you should run for it without even looking back. After all, it was you goal from the very beginning. And yet, there was tightness in your chest. It wasn’t exactly something new, but a lot of time passed since you felt that way.

Once it was a good thing, getting close to someone, but now was different. All the people that once made you felt loved and wanted were gone, some of them forever. And now look at you, trying to give your heart to some leaving cartoons in a abandoned and cursed studio. It was foolish to even think that they’ve seen you as something more than lost sheep, barely saved from slaughter. If not for Boris and his worrying about you, Bendy would already kick you out of here… At least that’s what you thought. He was such a complicated individual; there was no way to tell what exactly was currently going on in his head. The two of you came a long way from the first meeting, when you had to flee for your life. Now, you actually owed him for coming to the rescue. It still amazed you that he actually listened to your pleas; there was no good reason to do so. Did he do that simply because it was against Alice’s plan? There was certainly some animosity between them, so it was quit possible. Or perhaps he actually didn’t want you to die so much, that he went out of his way and helped.

Another angry growl, coming from the stomach stopped you from analyzing the situation any further. Okay – eating should be the top priority. Slowly you pulled yourself up, the bigger room inside the safehouse being your current goal.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks God for Bendy, conversations with him always help me win against writer's block.
> 
> Lastly I was thinking a lot about this fic and its future. To be precise, about breaking it into parts and creating a series.  
> From my perspective it would make sense storywise, this "first visit" being the first part and later events, with more time-jumps making for the second.  
> It would also probably be a lot more centered on Bendy/Reader relationship, people with dislike for it simply would be able to ignore the 2nd part.  
> Then there is the lenght of this fic. I know that there are works much longer than this piece, but to me its my first serious project. Maybe being "scared" of it would be too much of a word, but intimidated? Hell yeah. I think that breaking it would actually bring me some mental calmness.
> 
> I decided to write down these arguments and ask you, dear readers, about your opinion? You've been with me for a long time, some even from first day, so I think that I should hear you out before making any kind of decision. (Plus I always need advice before doing something, so pls help me out)

You had to stand up. You were very aware of that fact and yet even thinking about actually moving made your whole body shudder, not in a pleasant way at that. It was like every morning – the bed suddenly seemed much softer and warmer, with its own gravitational field. It was so easy, to just lay down again and fall asleep, forgetting about all the responsibilities and problems. Luckily, the same body that demanded to stay in place was even more desperate to get some food. With your stomach emitting one noise after another, you finally gathered all your strengths and slowly stood up.

Naturally, the change of position couldn’t be good for your state of being. It was hard to even point which part of your body was aching the most. There were the wounds from the elevator crash, banged wrist and bruised shoulder. The encounter with Alice hurt the other side of your body; at least you would be bruised symmetrically… And then there was your head, which was first hit by Sammy, God rest his soul, then suffered during the accident, just to be traumatized again hours later, when you were pushed into the pool of ink. 

Moving from bed actually helped you realize what was the main drawback of sleeping for so long – the painkillers that you took earlier were working no more. If only you had taken the whole pack… Actually, seeing how all of your belongings were gone, it wouldn’t probably change much. You decided to modify a bit the list of priorities, the top being now both food and medicine.

Step by step you crossed the distance between you and door to the other room. It was slow and tiring, the clock in the background only bringing to your attention how much time you waste. It was no use getting angry at your own state, but you simply couldn’t help it. That was only a small length, five meters at best, not a freaking half marathon. You were fairly sure that if someone placed a turtle next to you, the animal would walk much faster and would have much more energy.

When you finally reached the threshold, you leaned heavily against the wall, trying to catch your breath and not lose consciousness from all the effort. Sure, it wasn’t easy to come here, but it certainly was worth it. It wasn’t only about your satisfaction from actually achieving the goal, but also the sight that you were now granted. Uncomfortably sitting in the chair was no one else than Bendy himself. His long from was certainly not fit for this position, hands crossed on the chest, long legs sprawled in front of him. The view was so funny, with the ink demon looking just absurdly miserable, that before you could contain it, a chuckle escaped your lips. Shutting your lips with hand you tried to remain calm, but it was too late. The moment he cocked his head, as if silently asking what was so funny, you simply busted into laughter. It was, naturally, a very unfortunate decision, as all of your muscles protested with pain against this uncontrollable movement. Poor Bendy, was once again totally quizzed by you behavior - even without a proper face it was easy to notice how lost he was, trying to understand this outburst. He totally deserved an explanation and perhaps even an apology, but you simply couldn’t regain your composure. Only when there was simply no air in the lungs, your body finally started to cooperate.

If earlier you might have looked like a freak, now the image was complete. Somehow you hair became even messier, eyes got glassy and the skin on your face redden. Frantically grasping for air, you tried getting at least a few words out.  
“I’m sorry… It’s just… You look so… Funny… I mean…”

It was hard to talk without starting to laugh again, so you decided that this short statement must suffice. You probably looked like a retarded seal, grasping for air between muffled chuckles. In normal situation it would get kinda embarrassing, but not here and not with Bendy. He had already seen you in worse condition. That actually reminded you, that last time he run away when you started laughing. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to do it now, at least not until you manage to properly talk to him and thank for the help earlier.

Instantly, you regretted than you didn’t take your time earlier to think about what exactly you wanted to say. Simple “thank you “was simply not enough, after all he saved you from possibly being mauled to death with an axe. On the other hand more elaborate statements seemed a bit too official and out of place. Somehow the atmosphere of the studio and your current companion made everything sound too cliché. To your surprise, the train of thoughts was interrupted abruptly by a remark on Bendy’s side.  
“Funny enough to get my face painted on your body?” he said smugly, his gaze travelling from your face to the tattoo on the ribs.

Gosh, you completely forgot about that thing. Now, that you lost the majority of your clothing it was clearly visible, even with the huge amount of bruises its shape stood out against your skin. You instinctively tried to cover it with hand, your palm barely enough to hide it from sight. A blush found its way onto your cheeks, his observations being much more embarrassing than even standing here, half-naked, and laughing like a madman. You could only imagine how stupid you must have looked in his eyes. Of course, at the time of deciding to get a tattoo you couldn’t have possible knew that Bendy was actually alive. Up until now he was a cartoon character, a small grinning devil dancing on the screen. Okay, he might have meant for you more than for other children, because of yours father connection to his creation. Still, having someone’s face on your body was rather awkward, especially if you met a few hours ago for the very first time.

“I…” Once again you couldn’t talk properly, this time simply at lost for a proper explanation. Besides, it was so hard to read him at times like it. Was he angry at you? If so, would he jump at you and once again try to crush you. You decided to cross out this possibility, as Bendy usually wasn’t the best at hiding his fury. Perhaps he simply seen you as a total freak, you actually gave him a lot of reasons to do so. Okay, it was time to try and pull your shit together.

“It has sentimental value.” You finally barked out.

If he had eyebrows, then he would probably raise them at the statement.

“Oh, so my face has sentimental value to you?”

When he put it that way it really sounded quite silly. Normally you would probably take it easy, but somehow he managed to get you really agitated, your voice raising a pinch.

“I mean the overall design. Look, it doesn’t even look like you!” in your anger you completely forgot about any modesty or being careful. Lead by your own emotions, you made a few stop towards him, moving the hand away from the tattoo so he could get a better look.

“I’m still pretty sure it’s me. It even has the same horns.” He moved closer, seemingly inspecting the tattoo. Normally you would probably get at least a little bit uncomfortable, but now you simply couldn’t care less.

“You look nothing alike!”

“Very well, then tell me, why do you keep calling me Bendy?” he leaned back into the chair, once again practically radiating smugness.

“That’s…” Goddamit, he was right. You tried to somehow win this argument, but he seemed to counter all of your statements. “That’s because of the horns, okay? I admit, they are similar. But that’s all!”

“If you say so.” He shrugged.

Yes, shrugged at you. Oh now, that was enough. You were already ready to rush at him again, actually opened your mouth to say something, tell him what you think about this kind of attitude, when he interrupted, his voice a lot of calmer and maybe… worried?

“Maybe you should sit before we continue. Your legs are trembling.”

It took you by surprise; you were to gone into the conversation to notice how your own body reacted towards constant standing. Part of you wanted to continue doing it, just to repair a bit your ego. Luckily, the more rational part won, knowing how childish would be pushing yourself just to prove you could do that. Instead you took the chair opposite to the one currently occupied by Bendy. Finally seated comfortably you simply needed to think of a smart remark, before it would be too late. The subject of thanking for the rescue completely slipped from your mind.


End file.
